By Blessing Chinagorom
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky has applauded the team behind the production of “20 days in Mariupol” for winning the “Best Documentary” at the Oscar awards ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles, California, United States.
20 days in Mariupol a documentary that reflect on the highlighting Russia’s brutal attacks in Mariupol at the start of the war and the “sense of community and shared identity”, helping Ukrainians stand their ground two years into Vladimir Putin’s war.
The President who had earlier spoke to the Director of the film, Mstyslav Chernov when it was nominated for Oscar award, thanked the team behind this important documentary for exposing Russian atrocities against Ukrainian people to the entire world.
He said, “This harrowing and fact-based account is critical for countering Russian lies, keeping Ukraine in the spotlight, and understanding that Ukraine must win this war and Russia must be held accountable”.
Reacting to this Oscar win on X, Zelensky said he is grateful to the team for this film and for their fearless and tireless efforts, while expressed how important the award is to the country, saying the horrors of Mariupol must never be forgotten.
According to him, “The entire world must see and remember what the inhumane Russian invasion brought to our people. Cities and villages were destroyed, homes were burned, and entire families were killed by Russian shells and buried in their own backyards.
“We still do not know entirely how many people died in Mariupol. However, satellite images show graveyards around the city with thousands and thousands of graves.
The President noted that this documentary serves as a reminder of why international assistance—without delays or interruptions—is so critical to Ukraine, saying the Russian evil does not pause and does not seek peace.
“They want to inflict the same fate on every city that they can reach as they did on Mariupol, Bucha, and our other cities that suffered under Russian occupation.
“Together, we must prevent Russia from destroying life. We must protect our country and all of our people in order to restore normal life free of fear.
“I am grateful to everyone in the world who understands this and continues to support Ukraine. I thank everyone who tells the truth about Russia’s war crimes, Ukraine’s Zelensky appreciated.
This Ukrainian journalist, the Director, Mstyslav Chernov’s documentary “20 Days in Mariupol” had earlier won the Directors Guild of America Award for outstanding directorial achievement in a documentary for 2023.
The “20 Days in Mariupol” documentary comprised 30 hours of footage Chernov and his colleagues shot in Mariupol before the crew left the besieged city.
Chernov and his AP colleagues Vasylysa Stepanenko and Evgeniy Maloletka arrived in Mariupol one hour before the full-scale Russian invasion on Feb. 24.
After 20 days of covering the siege of the city, they had to leave because Russian forces started hunting the photographers “for publishing a detailed account of the atrocities happening in Mariupol.”