(Kyiv) The Oscar-winning documentary 20 days in Mariupolfilmed during the siege of this Ukrainian city in spring 2022 by the Russian army, “shows the truth about Russian terrorism,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday.
“More than two years ago, Russia brutally attacked Mariupol. 20 days in Mariupol is a film that shows the truth about Russian terrorism,” greeted Mr. Zelensky on Telegram.
“I thank the team who worked on this film and who won such an important Oscar, which allows us to speak loud and clear about Russia’s war against Ukraine,” supported the Ukrainian president, saying that “ truth conquers all.”
On Sunday, the film received the “Best Documentary” award at a ceremony in Hollywood.
Questioned by the press on Monday on the subject, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, assured him that he “had nothing to say.”
20 days in Mariupol was produced by Ukrainian journalists – Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko – working for the Associated Press (AP). In recent weeks, he has already won a series of international awards including the Pulitzer and the Bafta, the equivalent of the British Caesars.
His success in Los Angeles sparked a wave of emotion on social networks in Ukraine.
“The first Oscar in history. And how important it is at the moment,” said the head of the presidential administration, Andrii Yermak, on the social network X. “The world has seen the truth about Russia’s crimes. Justice wins,” he added.
“Historic and sad event at the same time,” commented pro-Western opposition MP Iryna Guerashchenko on Facebook.
The documentary shows the agony of this port city, located in eastern Ukraine, target of Russian forces from the first day of the invasion on February 24, 2022, and fell under their control 86 days later, at the cost tens of thousands of deaths and almost total destruction.
AP journalists who spent three weeks in the besieged city managed to survive and get their images out.
“I am probably the first director on this stage to say that I would have preferred never to make this film, if in return Russia had not attacked Ukraine or occupied our cities,” said Mstyslav Chernov, the director, on Sunday. , during the award ceremony.
This reward comes at a time when the Ukrainian army is in difficulty on the front while Western aid crumbles. In the United States, Kyiv’s most important military ally against Russia, an aid package of 60 billion dollars has been blocked for months in Congress against a backdrop of divisions between Republicans and Democrats.