Hansard

Last week, I attended the “Ukraine Forever!” concert at the Usher Hall—along with many of my colleagues, including Audrey Nicoll, who is sitting beside me—to see Scotland and Ukraine come together in cultural exchange, in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and in fundraising for the war effort. There were performances from Old Blind Dogs, Elzara Batalova, James Robertson, the Culture Code orchestra from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Oksana Mavrodii and the absolute powerhouse diva Karina Chervakova. It was a wonderful evening of talent and culture, but it was profoundly sad for all of us there, in the circumstances.

Last week, I had the pleasure of welcoming the consul, Andrii Madzianovskyi, to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee to give evidence and to explain the position of the Ukrainian people. He spoke with passion and dignity, and he expressed his thanks to the Scottish people—so-called world leaders could learn a lot from him. He told us:

“For several years now, my country has been bleeding innocent victims because the aggressor state of Russia, a terrorist country led by war criminal Putin, has been bombing and destroying Ukraine and its people.”—[Official Report, Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, 27 February 2025; c 1.]

Members have mentioned that Putin thought that the invasion would be over in three days—as Mr McArthur said, many other people thought so, too. Nevertheless, we should pay tribute to our own Professor Phillips O’Brien, of the University of St Andrews, who was a lone voice in saying, “No—this will not happen” and that the Ukrainian people would resist and dig in. That is what we have seen from a very proud and very brave nation.

Of course, we are Ukraine’s partners and, after all, unity among allies is what Ukraine needs right now. Unity is key, and that view is common to all of us. I must impart in the chamber the words of the consul, who asked in the committee for three things. He asked for “three powers”—“the power of weapons”, which we have discussed at length in the chamber this evening; the power “of economic sanctions”, on which, although it is perhaps outwith our control in this Parliament, we all have a voice with colleagues in Westminster; and “the power of diplomacy.”

I have talked a little about cultural diplomacy. A few years ago, the Society of Scottish Artists held an exhibition that included Peter Howson’s triptych depicting the illegal invasion of Ukraine and the strength and determination of the Ukrainian people. We, in Scotland, need to keep working, in our way, to support that cultural diplomacy, as well as diplomacy at all levels.

At that meeting of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, Keith Brown mentioned Hibernian Football Club’s long-standing association with the charity Dnipro Kids. It was wonderful to hear about the work of Steven Carr and the welcome for the 50 children who, through that charity, came to make their home in Scotland. We heard about how well their lives in Scotland were going and how grateful the Ukrainian people were for our support for those young people from Dnipro.

Kenneth Gibson mentioned the history of the Holodomor, which we have talked about many times in the chamber. We could also go back to the 1700s, when Ukrainian religious texts were first banned and Peter II mandated the translation of all state documents into Russian. On the fall of the Russian empire, Ukraine was absorbed into the Soviet Union, and we know about the purges and the Holodomor. We should make no mistake about it: Putin sees himself as implementing an extension of that shameful legacy.

Today, therefore, we say that we stand with Ukraine. I will quote Ukraine’s national anthem, because this is what I see in the bravery of Ukrainians every day:

“The glory and freedom of Ukraine has not yet perished
Luck will still smile on us brother-Ukrainians.
Our enemies will die, as the dew does in the sunshine,
and we, too, brothers, we’ll live happily in our land.
We’ll not spare either our souls or bodies to get freedom”.

Slava Ukraini!