On 24 April, the EESC hosted a screening of the Ukrainian documentary "20 Days in Mariupol" which this year won the Oscar in the category of Best Documentary Feature Film.

The film follows its director, journalist Mstyslav Chernov, and his colleagues during 20 dramatic days in February and March 2022, when they documented Russia's brutal siege of Mariupol, a major Ukrainian port on the Azov Sea. Working for the Associated Press, Chernov and his team were the last foreign journalists to stay in the city before it was seized by the Russian army. Their poignant recordings and photos, including those of massive bombardments of a maternity hospital and of the city theatre which served as a shelter for children, travelled the world, bearing witness to the horrors inflicted by the invading Russian army on the Ukrainian civilian population.

Apart from the Academy Award, "20 days in Mariupol" also won many other prestigious awards, including the BAFTA Film Award for the Best Documentary and the Audience Award for the World Cinema – Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. 

The screening was attended by EESC president Oliver Röpke, as well as by distinguished guests including H.E. Vsevolod Chentsov, Head of the Mission of Ukraine to the EU, and Yevhen Tuzov, one of the documentary's main protagonists.

"We must remember our solemn duty to bear witness to history. This movie has a clear message: we have to show the world what hate can do. Let us not forget the sacrifices made by the people of Ukraine, nor the resilience they have shown in the face of adversity. The prospect of Ukraine becoming an EU Member State is not only a testament to our shared values, but also a beacon of hope for a brighter future," said EESC president Oliver Röpke. 

"20 Days in Mariupol' offers a gruesome but essential look at the suffering caused by Russia's aggression. I am proud to say that our committee has remained unwaveringly at the side of Ukraine, and of its vibrant civil society, in these difficult times, and your presence tonight means a lot," said EESC Vice President for Communication Laurentiu Plosceanu. 

The EESC has firmly stood by Ukraine and its civil society from the first day of the Russia's war of aggression and reinforced its cooperation with Ukrainian civil society organisations (CSOs) through the EU-Ukraine Civil Society platform. It created the Ukraine hub, offering Ukrainian CSOs in Belgium a working space. It started the Enlargement Candidate Members initiative, to share the EESC expertise with Ukrainian CSOs. A high-level EESC delegation, led by Mr Röpke, visited Ukraine in November where it met with Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, representatives of the Verokhna Rada and of civil society. EESC members paid respect to Ukrainian war victims at war memorials in the country. 

The screening, organised at the initiative of the EESC Latvian member Andris Gobiņš, once again showed the solidarity of Europe's civil society with Ukraine and its people. The audience also had the opportunity to see a photo exhibition dedicated to Mariupol under siege, organised in cooperation with the Ukra-Bel association, which was displayed alongside the main event. (dp)