Protest at Russian Embassy following murder of Ukrainian author and human rights activist Victoria Amelina

MEMBERS of the writer’s association Irish PEN gathered at the Russian Embassy on Orwell Road on Tuesday morning, July 4, to hand in a statement regarding the tragic murder of Ukrainian author and human rights activist, Victoria Amelina, by Russian forces in Kramstorsk.

They were joined in their protest by Fighting Words and Ukrainian Action Ireland.

Victoria Amelina, who was aged 37, died on Friday, June 30, from her injuries after a Russian missile hit a pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk on Tuesday, June 27.

The attack has been called a war crime by human rights activists.

Victoria Amelina was with a delegation of Colombian journalists and writers in the city’s popular Ria Lounge when the missile hit.

Her death brought the number killed in the attack to 13 with around 60 people also seriously injured.

Victoria Amelina

Following their protest at the Russian Embassy, Irish PEN, Fighting Words and Ukrainian Action Ireland issued a joint statement:

“On the day when Victoria’s funerary rites begin (4th July) we attempted to present this statement to the Russian Ambassador at the Consulate on Orwell Road.

“At first, we were refused entry, but eventually the Chair of Irish PEN, Catherine Dunne, was admitted.

“She told the unidentified member of staff who received her that ‘We wish to protest, in the strongest possible terms, the missile strike in Kramatorsk, in which 13 people were killed, including our dear friend and PEN colleague, Victoria Amelina.’

“The official refused to accept either the spoken or the written statement, repeating loudly that this was ‘fake news’ while Ms. Dunne attempted to speak.

‘Our friend is dead,’ Ms. Dunne replied.

‘That is not fake news.’

Within minutes, she was escorted from the premises.

“This experience has strengthened our determination to maintain a campaign designed to keep Victoria’s voice alive and to hold Russia to account for this and all other war crimes against civilians in Ukraine.”

A spokesperson for Irish PEN told Southside People of Victoria Amelina’s links with Dublin.

“Victoria was a dear friend and much loved colleague,” she said.

“She has visited Dublin several times.

“Everyone who has met her, read her work or heard her speak here, has been moved and affected by her words and by her presence.

“At an Irish PEN event in Smock Alley during the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival last October, she spoke powerfully and movingly about the Russian invasion of her native country, and of Russia’s intention to obliterate all traces of Ukrainian culture.

“She also described her own work in progress: War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War, and her ongoing humanitarian work as a war crimes investigator with Truth Hounds.

“During that same visit to Dublin, Victoria kept young children enthralled and entertained during a storytelling session at Pearse Street Library.

“Both of these Irish PEN events were supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.

“At a Vicar Street concert earlier this year, organised by, among others, Fighting Words and Ukrainian Action Ireland, Victoria stilled the packed theatre with her words, redolent of her courage and determination to secure justice.

“Two of her essays in English were republished here last year: “Nothing Bad Has Ever Happened”, in the Irish Times, and “Homo Oblivious” in the Dublin Review of Books. Both of these essays predate the illegal Russian invasion of February 2022.

“Although she was an award-winning novelist, Victoria set her own career aside, as many other Ukrainians have, in order to work for her country. She spoke of turning to poetry in the midst of this challenging work: ‘As if shells hit language/ the debris from language/ may look like poems/ But they are not/ This is no poetry too/ Poetry is in Kharkiv/ volunteering for the army’.

“When asked how she managed to bear the emotional impact of dealing with atrocities on a daily basis, she said lightly of her and her colleagues’ hugely challenging work: ‘We hug a lot’.

“Victoria was due to come back to Dublin in November, to moderate an Irish PEN/ Dublin Book Festival event exploring the role of culture in times of war and the absolute necessity to preserve it, describing writers as ‘caretakers of cultural memory’.

“The world is a darker place today. Victoria Amelina, award-winning writer and war crimes investigator, has become the most recent victim in a long list of brutal war crimes perpetrated by Russia against the civilian population of Ukraine.

“Our sincere condolences go to her family, her many friends, and to her colleagues in PEN Ukraine and Truth Hounds.

“We call for an immediate end to such atrocities.”