‘If my country fails, other European countries will be next’, says Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland

The Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland has warned that Vladimir Putin’s “imperial” ambitions go far beyond her country and he will use any “fatigue” with the war in this country and elsewhere to pursue extended militaristic aims that will threaten the peace and security of all Europe.

Speaking at the Stoneybatter Festival on Sunday afternoon, Larysa Gerasko said the Russian leader was counting on global fatigue with the war setting in to allow him to “rebuild the Russian empire and to restore Russian power in the world”.

During a public interview on the final day of the festival, Ms Gerasko stressed that her country still needed outside help to stand against its much larger neighbour and she warned that Europe would “have to stop Russia altogether because if my country fails we have to realise that eastern European countries — but not only eastern European countries — will be next.”

She welcomed moves to facilitate Ukraine’s application to join the European Union and said the Putin regime’s desire to stop the EU growing stronger was one of the “main reasons for the invasion because [he] has a fear that a successful and prosperous Ukraine will be a real threat to Putin’s dictatorship in Russia”.

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She said Putin’s regime would struggle to explain to its own citizens why they were struggling financially and socially if Ukraine as a member of the EU was going in a different direction.

Accommodation problems

Responding to reports that Ukrainian refugees would be offered only two accommodation options by the Irish authorities, she accepted there were difficulties when housing some of those fleeing the war and arriving in Ireland but called for a “case-by-case” application of the rules

She said if refugees rejected multiple accommodation options because they had particular preferences such as living near a large urban centre, that was “a little bit unacceptable”.

But she added that there were cases where people had rejected accommodation offered because it lacked basic amenities or infrastructure such as public transport, schools and shops.

She pointed to one woman with a young child who was offered accommodation in Cavan that was 15km from a town and “there was no public transport and she didn’t have a car so it was nearly impossible to buy some food so she bought a bike and was cycling with her child 15km to the shops. Something like that is a challenge,” Ms Gerasko said.

She also expressed her gratitude to the people of Ireland for their ongoing support for the people of Ukraine and the more than 30,000 refugees who have come here since the start of the war in February.

“Thank you for your humanitarian aid and the warm welcome for almost 35,000 refugees who feel very safe here,” she told the festival. She hoped Ireland would mark Ukraine’s national day of independence in August with a similar street festival somewhere in Ireland.