Tomasz Grodzki made the biblical comparison during a visit to Ukraine on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Grodzki led a delegation of Polish senators who travelled to Ukraine together with their Czech colleagues, headed by Senate Speaker Miloš Vystrčil.
As well as visiting the capital Kyiv, the Polish and Czech lawmakers went to the nearby towns of Borodyanka, Irpin and Bucha.
All three were largely razed by Russian shelling that left hundreds of civilians dead, according to news outlets.
‘Golgota of the 21st century’
After the visit, Grodzki stated: “I’m shaken by what I’ve seen. It’s the Golgotha of the 21st century.”
He added that “there is no justification for Russia’s disgraceful aggression against Ukraine.”
Earlier, amid the ruins in Borodyanka, Grodzki said: “This war must end as soon as possible.”
‘Crime of genocide must not go unpunished’
Later in the day, Grodzki addressed Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
Referring to Russia’s onslaught against Ukraine, he said: “Russia’s imperial chauvinism has led to the crime of genocide.”
He added that “such a crime must not go unpunished.”
“Sooner or later… murderers, rapists, plunderers and their like must be held to account,” Grodzki said, adding that the International Criminal Court, based in the Hague in the Netherlands, “has already launched its investigation.”
‘Ukraine will never be alone again’
Grodzki pledged: “We will do everything, from hospitality for those who had to flee, to financial support and all the military aid that is possible.”
He said: “I’m telling the people of Ukraine from the bottom of my heart and from the depths of my soul: 'You will never be alone again.'"
‘We have a duty to rebuild Ukraine’
He also stated that “it is our duty to rebuild Ukraine,” adding that the country "will rise again even more modern and more beautiful than before.”
These words brought a standing ovation from Ukrainian MPs, the PAP news agency reported.
Grodzki ended his speech with a quotation from My Testament, a poem by Ukraine’s national bard Taras Shevchenko: “Rise ye up/And break your heavy chains/And water with the tyrants' blood/The freedom you have gained.”
He concluded: "Glory to Ukraine!"
His address came a day after Poland's President Andrzej Duda and his Baltic counterparts visited Kyiv for face-to-face talks with Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Thursday was day 50 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, shevchenko.ca