(Strasbourg) “I bring to you the greetings of those who are fighting for our country and for freedom”, said the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who connected remotely and spoke at the 2022 Award Ceremony of the Sakharov Prize that the European Parliament awarded today, in the Strasbourg Chamber, to the “the brave people of Ukraine”. The ceremony was attended by Oleksandra Matviychuk (who is also Nobel Peace Prize Laureate); Yulia Pajevska (Angels of Taira); Ivan Federov, Mayor of Melitopol; Olekssandr Chekryhin and Stanislav Kulykivskyi (State Emergency Services); and Yaroslav Bozhko (Yellow Ribbon Civil Resistance Movement). Zelensky, who was received with a long round of applause by MEPs, called for a minute’s silence for the victims of the war unleashed by Russia. “Russia is trying to take away freedom from both Ukraine and Europe. And this is a crime” which must be prosecuted by setting up an international Court, he said. The president talked about the horrors of the conflict, the victims, the violence against civilians, and the towns and cities destroyed: “The Russians are destroying everything”. Finally, the president thanked the European Parliament, the EU, and “all those who stand by us and support our efforts”, and ended by saying: “Glory to Ukraine, to our soldiers, and to those who defend freedom”.