Statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to the 16th anniversary of the beginning of the armed aggression of the Russia against Georgia.

“August 7 marks 16 years since the beginning of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Georgia, as a result of which Russia killed hundreds of innocent people, occupied Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.

The Russian occupation turned these Georgian regions into a gray zone where lawlessness prevails, prospects are lacking, and human rights are neglected.

The hostilities stopped in August 2008, but Russia’s aggression against Georgia did not end there. Moscow continued the so-called “borderization”, that is, the creeping annexation of Georgian territory, pressure, propaganda, and other hybrid methods of intervention.

Ukraine supports the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders and strongly condemns the aggressive policy of the Kremlin.

Russia must withdraw its troops from the sovereign territory of Georgia in accordance with the 2008 ceasefire agreement and revoke the recognition of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as so-called “independent states”.

Russian imperialism in the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and Europe has remained unchanged for centuries and consists of deep-rooted chauvinism and contempt for other peoples, international law, internationally recognized borders, and the desire to restore imperial dominance.

Russian aggression against Georgia, and later Ukraine, is only an episode of this long-standing imperial policy of Moscow, which has no place in the 21st century.

We are convinced that only the joint efforts of the international community can help the aggressive policy of the Russian Federation, force it to leave the temporarily occupied territories of Georgia and Ukraine, and bring Russian criminals to justice for all wrongdoing, crimes and atrocities”, - reads the statement.