Directed by Mstyslav Chernov, the 90-minute film is an account of the time which the director and a group of his colleagues spent in besieged Mariupol after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s ambassador in Poland, Vasyl Zvarych, said in his remarks that the “presentation of the film in the parliament, the heart of Polish democracy, brings to mind the ideas that the Ukrainian nation is fighting for.”
He described the documentary as ”a tribute to the victims of the brutal attacks of the Russians and a testimony to the crimes that should be seen by the entire free world.”
Zvarych added: “We must spare no effort to see to it that this documentary film becomes an important evidence in The Hague, where Putin and all the Kremlin leaders will be brought to account and punished for their crimes against humanity, the crimes of genocide.”
A special guest at the event in the Polish parliament was Lyudmila Vaskovskaya, an anesthesiologist at the maternity hospital No. 2 in Mariupol, the film’s protagonist.
She was on duty when the Russians laid siege to the southeastern Ukrainian city. She said the number of the wounded that were brought to the hospital was growing so fast that the staff had to select those to whom medical help could be offered.
Vaskovskaya told the audience: “After a few days, a Russian tank approached the hospital, shelled the building somewhere between the second and third floor, and we had to carry all the wounded, including those with amputated limbs, to the cellars. Many of these people died in that dark corridor, without any medication, even pain-killers.”
Vaskovskaya managed to leave the city in mid-March, ending a hospital duty that began on February 23.
The screening of 20 Days in Mariupol, which came in the run-up to the second anniversary of Russia's invasion on Ukraine, was organized as part of the Open Parliament project.
The head of the Parliament’s Chancellery, Jacek Cichocki, said: “It is our duty to remind Europe that Mariupol and Kyiv are a short distance not only from Warsaw, but also Paris and Rome; that Europe is small and that security is our common concern.”
Since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January last year, 20 Days in Mariupol has received wide critical acclaim and more than 20 awards at various international festivals.
(mk/gs)