“If Russia manages to convince the world of its success, then other authoritarian leaders will follow it soon”, Oleksandra Matviichuk said at a round table discussion with international partners

On 23 February, the eve of the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, international experts met to discuss important issues. In particular, they discussed what the Ukrainian resistance looked like, the obstacles that the Ukrainian society and our international partners faced and how Ukraine could preserve its culture and identity when Ukrainian cities were being raised to the ground. They had a special discussion about information security and disinformation campaigns affecting the Ukrainian public discourse.

Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, journalist, writer and President of PEN Ukraine; Kristina Hook, Assistant Professor at Kennesaw State University’s School of Conflict Management; and Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of the Center for Civil Liberties, joined the debate. Christopher Atwood, genocide expert and human rights defender, moderated the discussion.

“Russia tries to convince the world that freedom, democracy and human rights are fake values, which protect nobody in times of war. Russia tries to prove that a country with strong military capabilities and nuclear weapons can freely impose its rules on the international community and even change internationally recognized borders of other states by force. If Russia manages to convince the world of its success, then other authoritarian leaders will follow it soon”, Oleksandra Matviichuk reminded.