February 22: Ukrainian poet and singer of the Maidan movement Evgeniya Bilchenko repented and asked for forgiveness from Odessa and Donbass. Having visited eastern Ukraine as a volunteer, Bilchenko realized that the country is waging a civil and hybrid war against its population, leading to devastation and neo-Nazism. The people of Odessa reacted in different ways to the repentance expressed by one who took an active part in the events of 2014.
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| Alexey Albu |
“I can speak of forgiveness only for myself. If her words of apology are sincere, if a person truly realizes the horror of what has happened and wants to somehow remedy the situation — then one can only welcome such an inner transformation of that person. But I’m not sure that Odessa citizens who have lost relatives and friends will be able to forgive the punishers who killed people on May 2, 2014. I’m not sure that families of deceased militia will be able to forgive the death of their relatives.
“I’m not sure that children who have lost their parents will forgive their killers. The bullying to which the peaceful inhabitants of Donbass were exposed cannot be forgotten. The wound inflicted on Ukraine by the nationalists will take a very long time to heal. And it is still unknown whether it will be able to heal.”
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