New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his engagements in Ukraine on Friday by visiting a special multimedia exhibit at a museum in Kyiv dedicated to hundreds of children killed since the launch of Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
The visit to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, for which Modi was joined by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, appeared to be aimed at addressing the outrage among Ukrainians over images of the Indian leader embracing President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 8, the same day a Russian strike hit Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital.
Modi was greeted on his arrival at the museum by Zelenksyy, clad in his trademark green sweatshirt and brown cargo pants, and the two leaders embraced before watching a video on children killed in the conflict. Modi stood close to Zelenskyy, his arm around the Ukrainian president’s shoulder.
They then entered the museum and placed toys at the site of the multimedia martyrology, or catalogue of martyrs, titled “Children” and honoured the memory of the fallen young Ukrainians with a moment of silence.
“President @ZelenskyyUa and I paid homage at the Martyrologist Exposition in Kyiv. Conflict is particularly devastating for young children. My heart goes out to the families of children who lost their lives, and I pray that they find the strength to endure their grief,” Modi said in a post on X.
Zelenskyy said on X that he and Modi had honoured the memory of children “whose lives were taken by Russian aggression”. He added, “Children in every country deserve to live in safety. We must make this possible.”
Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kostin informed Modi and Zelenskyy about the history of the exhibit and Russian attacks on places where children were present, including the missile strike on Okhmatdyt, the largest children’s hospital, a statement from the Ukrainian president’s office said.
“Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, 570 Ukrainian children have been killed. However, this number is not final, as complete information from the temporarily occupied territories is unavailable. The number of victims continues to grow due to constant Russian attacks,” the statement said.
A statement from the external affairs ministry said Modi was “deeply touched by the poignant exposition” in memory of children killed in the conflict. Modi referred to the exhibit in his televised opening remarks at his meeting with Zelenskyy and said the death of innocent children is “unacceptable”.
“For a long time, we have heard that the first casualty of war is truth. But when I visited the museum dedicated to the children with you today and was offering my tribute, my heart was deeply hurt,” he said, speaking in Hindi.
“I now feel the first casualty of war are the innocent children. That is very painful. In any civilised society, for those who believe in human values and for sensitive people, such incidents are unacceptable. Any person in the world who believes in human values cannot accept this,” he said.
The multimedia exhibit “Children” was created in June 2022 on the “Day of Remembrance of Children Killed by Russia’s Armed Aggression Against Ukraine”. The martyrology features names and photographs of young Ukrainians “killed by the aggressor state”.