ATHENS – Ukraine’s Ambassador to Greece Sergii Shutenko posted a comment in social media regarding the video screened during President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to the Parliament of the Hellenic Republic on Thursday afternoon.

Here follows the statement in its entirety:

“For more than 8 years and especially since the beginning of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, Ukrainian people and our Armed Forces have been bravely defending civilian population on our soil, and freedom and democracy in Europe.

Russian propaganda machine targets the minds of free people. It not only blurs the reality, twisting facts, it creates the dreaded atmosphere of hatred and fear.

Today Russian officials and propagandists have been denying the sheer fact of the aggression and military invasion in our country, and continue to lie blatantly and to disguise their war crimes and crimes against humanity, like the world witnessed in Bucha.

In order to distract Western attention from the immense humanitarian catastrophe caused by the invasion, especially in Mariupol, Russia is using a wide range of disinformation techniques and myths.

For many years Russia tried to ‘plant’ into Greek minds the myth that the Azov Regiment is a paramilitary independent unit operating in Mariupol with no discipline and subordination.

We stated on numerous occasions, that in reality, the volunteer military unit Azov Regiment was formed in 2014 as a response to the Russian attempt to shatter the stability of the Donetsk region and its cities. It played an important role in retaking the city of Mariupol back in 2014, and was completely reformed and integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine under strict command, and subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Since then the city of Mariupol enjoyed peaceful and flourishing times in all those years.

Since the Russian invasion, the Azov Regiment is playing a key role in defending civilian population in one of the heaviest battles for Mariupol, which remains Ukrainian due to its efforts.

The video, portraying ordinary citizens of Ukraine of Greek origin – two soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine, one of whom is from the Azov Regiment, demonstrates the sheer will to defend their homeland and civil population of Mariupol, and has nothing to do with those Nazi deeds that Russians commit on our land and against our people.”