Today, Ukraine marks for the fifth time at the state level the feat of its sons and daughters who, in the darkest times in human history, despite mortal danger, chose the righteous path of mercy, courage and self-sacrifice.

In February 2021, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine designated May 14 as a symbolic date to honour and recognise the courage of Ukrainians who, risking their own lives and the lives of their loved ones - for the Nazis punished those who aided Jews with the execution of the entire family - rescued Jews from the Nazi genocide, the Holocaust.

2,713 Ukrainians have already been officially honoured by the Israeli national memorial Yad Vashem with the title of Righteous Among the Nations. In terms of the number of Righteous, Ukraine ranks fourth in the world. Cooperation with Yad Vashem to establish the names of Ukrainian Righteous continues, despite the current wartime challenges faced by both Ukraine and Israel.

An ancient Talmudic teaching holds: whoever saves a single life saves an entire world. For Ukraine and Ukrainians, the protection of life has always been and remains the highest value - including at the present time, when our state and people are resisting genocidal Russian aggression and atrocities unseen in Europe since World War II.

Evil must be defeated everywhere and at all times. Upholding the values of human life, dignity, freedom, human rights and equality is not an abstraction, but a shared endeavour that demands real action and deeds.

Today, Ukraine also honours the memory of the approximately 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Nearly a quarter of all victims - up to 1.5 million people — belonged to Ukrainian Jewry.

Ukrainians who became Righteous Among the Nations proved by their example that in the densest darkness, the strongest light within people shines forth. Honouring their feat demands the effective embodiment of humanist principles in the present day.

Ukraine categorically condemns all manifestations of antisemitism and any forms of xenophobia and chauvinism, counters them with concrete steps including the strengthening of criminal liability, and calls on the international community to decisively combat misanthropic ideologies and to uphold humanist ideals and democratic values.