With the digital exhibition "Make Russia Pay" we aim to raise global awareness that restoring Ukraine is not just our goal but a duty to history. The exhibition will testify to our determination and readiness to take responsibility for our future. In reflecting our significant relationships and ambitions, we believe that each step towards "Make Russia Pay" is a step towards stability, justice, and rejuvenation. Together with you, we will demand that Russia pays the cost of its crimes in Ukraine.
The digital exhibition Make Russia Pay is a quick glimpse into Russia’s war in Ukraine in numbers, eloquent and objective, which gives viewers a very palpable idea about the losses suffered by Ukraine due to the Russian invasion and about its cost for the World and Ukraine’s partners in particular. The event is aimed to explain why and for what Russia should pay, and call on the international community to make Russia accountable for what it’s done.
Why it is important now?
From February 24th 2022 Russia has been destroying Ukraine. Every day, Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure suffer from constant attacks by enemy missiles and drones. In 2022, the national economy lost 29.2% of real GDP. As of March this year, Ukraine’s documented losses amounted to $411 billion. Russia’s undermining of the Kakhovka Dam caused another $14 billion in losses. At the same time, we have limited information about what is happening in the temporarily occupied territories and cannot calculate our losses there. We believe that it is the aggressor country, Russia, that should compensate for the damage caused by the war. Therefore, the confiscation and transfer of Russian state assets to Ukraine is justified and fair.
Why in Belgium?
Belgium was one of the first countries to find a legal mechanism for using frozen Russian assets in favour of Ukraine. To support our country, a special fund was created to be filled by taxation of Russian assets. That is why the exhibition is opening in Brussels.
Content creators
The content of the exhibition is produced and curated by Ukrainian cultural managers and youth culture activists — Creative Beast agency (Kyiv), NGO Shum. Rave (Slovyansk), co-founders of the campaign Ukrainian Beast UNLEASHED. The curators come from the regions that have suffered the most or are currently occupied.
Organizers
The organizers of the project are the Warsaw-based International Centre for Ukrainian Victory, and the Ukrainian NGO the National Interests Advocacy Network ANTS.
