On 24 February the Council of Europe will hold a ceremony to mark the start three years ago of the Russian Federation's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, along with an extraordinary meeting of the Committee of Ministers (to be broadcast live).
Ambassador Patrick Engelberg, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the Council of Europe (on behalf of the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers), Secretary General, Alain Berset, Parliamentary Assembly President, Theodoros Rousopoulos, and Ambassador Borys Tarasyuk, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, will address those gathered for the ceremony at 10.30 am on the Council of Europe forecourt.
An extraordinary meeting of the Ministers' Deputies (ambassadors) focusing on the subject of Ukrainian civilians held prisoner in the Russian Federation will be held at 11 am. A Ukrainian woman who was held in the Donetsk pretrial detention centre and released in October 2022, and the daughter of a Ukrainian citizen held in prison, will be invited to share their testimonies during the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, at around 12 noon, the exhibition 'For the Sake of a Letter' by the Ukrainian artist Olena Morozova will be presented in the Foyer of the Committee of Ministers. This exhibition depicts the lives of civilian prisoners held in Russian prisons through their correspondence with their families.
The Council of Europe's main building, le Palais de l'Europe, will be lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag during the night from 24 to 25 February.
