DAY OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE DEAD CIVILIANS IN THE CONFLICT IN DONBASS

What is a war? These are primarily human tragedies, the worst of which is the loss of life. There is a classification of human losses. They can be direct and indirect, combat and non-combat, but none of these definitions will measure and convey to the full the tragedy, pain and despair of people, who are at the epicenter of military operations. Every day the war reaps its ominous "harvest", taking from the civilian population confidence in the future, their homes, jobs, but the most importantly - health and life. This loss is irreparable.

According to the UN, during the hostilities in Donbass, more than 13 thousand people were killed, and about 30 thousand were injured. More than a quarter of this number are civilians, including women, the elderly and children. These people are worthy of memory.

We consider it necessary to introduce at the state level a day of remembrance of civilians who died as a result of hostilities in Donbass. Every nation has such a memorable day when people remember their dead. Ukraine cannot and should not be an exception.

To this end, we are creating the PETITION with an appeal to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a corresponding request.

Some of the most tragic events of the conflict related to the enormous loss of life, have received widespread publicity. But more often it concerns military clashes and loss of life among the military. In our country, there are memorable dates to honor the fallen soldiers, as well as many initiatives to preserve the memory of them. So on August 29, on the anniversary of the battles near Ilovaisk, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the defenders of Ukraine who died in the struggle for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. And on January 16, Ukraine separately honors the memory of "cyborgs" - soldiers and volunteers who died defending the Donetsk airport. But there is still no date for the memory of the innocent victims of the war, although some of the deaths of civilians were so shocking that the dates on which they occurred can be can be easily called the "black days". Children, women and old people did not choose such a fate. This was not their deliberate decision and this fundamentally distinguishes them from the military.

We chose 16 cases, we called the The Black Days of Donbass». Those days are one more tragical than the other. They occurred both in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, on the territories controlled by the government of Ukraine as well as on the areas controlled by the armed groups of the DPR and LPR. We do not make any differentiate between those episodes. To our great regret, during the war, both parts of the divided region got used to mourning only “their” victims, those ones who were killed by the "other side". We believe that equal attention should be paid to all civilian deaths. ABOUT THE PROJECT

Of course, if we compare the number of people who died in those days with the total number of killed persons, it appears that this is only a small part of the "global picture" of the war. This evidences that military actions that led to the death of civilians have been on the going basis. Each day of the war must be regarded as a tragedy.

Of course, in the future we would like to see each of these cases investigated, giulty persons are found, and justice is made. But this is not our task and goals. Now we just want to honor the memory of our fallen fellow countrymen.

We call on other NGOs, public figures, local authorities, especially in areas affected by the hostilities, as well as all concerned people to join our action.

Public hearings are planned as part of the initiative.

MANIFESTO SIGNERS (more to come):
Enrique Menendez, head of the NGO «Donbass Regional Policy Institute»
Olga Kosse, head of the NGO «Responsible Citizens»
Andrey Yermolaev, philosopher, head of the strategic group «Sofia»
Alexander Lukyanchenko, mayor of Donetsk from 2002 to 2014
Kost Bondarenko, political scientist, head of the Ukrainian Politics Foundation
Sergey Sivokho, head of the NGO «National Platform for Reconciliation and Unity»
Andrey Pankov, Mayor of Kramatorsk
Daria Kasyanova, child protection specialist
Nina Potarska, National Coordinator for Ukraine of the International Women's League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Sergey Shapkin, Pavlopolsky village head
Vladimir Ischenko, sociologist
Ilya Kononov, Doctor of Sociological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Philosophy and Sociology of Lugansk National Taras Shevchenko University
Andrey Kolosov, Doctor of Economics, Professor of Lugansk National Taras Shevchenko University (Ukraine)
Vladimir Chemeris, human rights activist
Marina Cherenkova, member of Donetsk regional council sessions V and VI
Charitable organization “International Charitable Foundation volunteer group “Slavyane”