Flying the flag, speech and seminar to mark anniversary
Published:
24 February is the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As in previous years, this day will be highlighted in the Riksdag.
Ukraine’s flag was raised and the members of the Riksdag stood to honour the Ukrainian Ambassador Svetlana Zalischuk who was present at the opening in the Chamber. In his speech, the Speaker emphasised that the Riksdag unanimously backs Sweden’s support for Ukraine.
The Ambassador was also one of the speakers at a lunchtime seminar in the Riksdag to highlight the anniversary. She described what life is like today in Ukraine, after four years of war.
Speech by the Speaker on the occasion of the four-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 24 February 2026
Honourable Members of the Riksdag!
Please rise to welcome Her Excellency the Ambassador of Ukraine, Svetlana Zalishchuk, to the Swedish Parliament.
On this day four years ago, I welcomed the ambassador’s predecessor here to the Riksdag. The full-scale Russian invasion had then only been going on for a few hours. It was a charged moment, when no one knew what would happen, but when everyone realized that we were facing a decisive moment in the history of Europe.
At that time, the parliamentary elections in September 2022 were approaching here in Sweden. Now the parliamentary elections in September 2026 are approaching. An entire term of office, four long years, have passed – four years during which the civilian population of Ukraine have suffered massacres and terror bombings, grief and suffering. But today we also look back on four years when Ukraine – initially against all odds – managed to hold back the aggressor. Four years of struggle, heroism and resistance.
The success of Ukraine in halting the Russian advance depends primarily on the unity, initiative and willingness of its own people to sacrifice. But the support of the international community has also had a role to play in this.
That is why I am pleased with and proud of the unity shown by this parliament in its support for Ukraine. This support was clearly manifested most recently during last week’s debate on foreign policy here in the Chamber.
This unity is a great strength. It shows that that – despite differences of opinion on many other issues – we all support the importance of defending democracy, freedom and the right of each nation to self-determination. It is a unity that is also reflected in broad popular support for Ukraine.
Further evidence of the support that Ukraine enjoys was the Speakers summit held here at the Riksdag last autumn within the framework of the Crimea Platform. The summit brought together representatives from almost 70 of the world’s parliaments from all continents. The fact that so many countries were represented not only shows how broad support for Ukraine is, but it is also a sign that many more than we realize that it is not only Ukraine’s freedom that is at stake in this fight. Those who fight, suffer and die in Ukraine do so in the defence of the freedom of all of us.
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Ukraine’s civilian population is now suffering its fourth winter of war. Extreme cold and escalating Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure are making it the most difficult winter of war so far.
Four years of fighting have not only left its traces in a multitude of new graves, but nature has also been devastated.
The consequences of the war will be discussed at a lunch seminar at the Riksdag today. Everyday life in Ukraine after four years of war is one perspective, security policy challenges another, but the severe effects on the environment are also highlighted.
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Honourable Members of the Riksdag,
The frozen front lines, the trenches, the barbed wire barriers and a no-man’s land covered with craters remind us of the horrors of the first World War. There is another similarity we can soon add to this: if the war is still raging when we gather here to conclude our parliamentary business in June, it will have been going on as long as the First World War.
The consequences of the Versailles agreement have been discussed for more than a century. Many are now warning of the consequences if Ukraine is forced to sign a peace agreement that will both reward the aggressor, Russia, and risk just being a respite in the face of new Russian attacks. Because there is a crucial difference between the two wars. While World War I broke out as a result of complicated great-power entanglements, Russia's war against Ukraine is just that: Russia's war against Ukraine. The war was started by Russia and could end in an instant if Russia follows international law and withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory.
The only way to secure a just and lasting peace is to continue supporting Ukraine and to increase the pressure on Russia. That is why the coalition of the willing is so important. And that is why Sweden's support will continue – until the day the war is over and Ukraine is free again, but also long after that.
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The Ukrainian author Viktoria Amelina debuted in 2015 and has been awarded several literary prizes. After the full-scale Russian invasion, she began documenting war crimes. On June 27, 2023, she was seriously injured in a Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk, where she was eating at a pizza restaurant. Three days later, at the young age of 37, she died from her injuries, one of thirteen victims of the Russian attack. Some time before she died, she wrote a poem about sorrow, pain and hope, and I want to end by reading it.
I read it because it helps us understand the consequences of war on people. I read it in memory of Viktoria Amelina and in memory of all the other lives that have been extinguished during Russia's unjust war. I read it because it is an expression of the Ukrainian culture that Russia claims does not exist, the culture that Russia wants to destroy.
On the barren spring pasture
Stands a woman dressed in black
She calls out her sisters’ names
Like a bird in the empty sky
She will call all of them out
The one who flew away too early
The one who begged to be allowed to die
The one who could not stop death
The one who never stopped waiting
The one who never stopped believing
The one who still mourns in silence
She will call them all back into the earth
As she sowed the field with pain
And from the pain and the names of the women
Her new sisters will grow out of the earth
And sing again joyfully about life
But how will it go for her, the crow?
She stays here on the field forever
As her calls are the only ones
That keep all the swallows in flight
Can you hear her calling
Every one of them by name?
Thank you! Slava Ukraini.