{"id":312257,"date":"2026-02-23T01:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/312257\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T01:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:45:09","slug":"ireland-stands-in-solidarity-with-ukraine-on-eve-of-fourth-anniversary-of-russian-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/312257\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ireland stands in solidarity with Ukraine’ on eve of fourth anniversary of Russian invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and continue to support its people, politicians at peace rallies across Ireland said yesterday.<\/p>\n

Marches were held to mark the four-year anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is tomorrow. Some 600 people marched in Cork, rally organiser Olesia Zhytkova said.<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il councillor Fergal Dennehy, the Lord Mayor of Cork City, highlighted the unjust nature of the war, and welcomed Ukrainian refugees to the city.<\/p>\n

A former lord mayor, Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, said Ireland must use its upcoming EU presidency to push for support for Ukraine and for EU accession.<\/p>\n

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said at the peace rally in Dublin that Ireland continues to stand with Ukraine \u201cin solidarity, grief, anger, and in unwavering support\u201d. She said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n As we mark the fourth anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; this will mean that we are entering the fifth year of this brutal bombardment.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand with every family forced from their home, every community shattered, every person who has sought refuge here because the Russian regime has waged a brutal, illegal war on your country.<\/p>\n

\"LordLord Mayor Fergal Dennehy speaking at Sunday’s\u00a0 rally in Cork in support of Ukraine to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Picture: Eddie O’Hare<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Ireland, we must do our part: cutting off the flow of Russian oligarch money. Labour has introduced the Magnitsky Bill to our parliament to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Bacik condemned cuts to accommodation payment supports to Ukrainian refugees.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘We need a lasting peace\u2019<\/p>\n

\" Alona Dekhtiarenko is one of three women from Ukraine now living in Ireland who spoke to Liz Dunphy about their hopes and fears for their country’s future. That article is published in print and online at IrishExaminer.com today, Monday. Picture: Chani Anderson\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand with those fleeing war,” Ms Bacik said.<\/p>\n

“As the granddaughter of a refugee who fled Russian influence in Czechoslovakia, I know the value refugees bring to a country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the resilience, the creativity, the strength that displacement forces onto a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russian attacks continue<\/p>\n

It comes as Russia attacked Ukraine with strike drones and ballistic and cruise missiles, focusing on energy infrastructure and killing at least one person, the Ukrainian military and local officials said yesterday.<\/p>\n

The overnight strikes hit Kyiv and the region around the capital, the Black Sea port of Odesa, and central Ukraine, they said.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that the strikes also targeted the Dnipro, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Poltava, and Sumy regions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ukraine’s energy sector was main target\u00a0<\/p>\n

The main target of the attack was the energy sector, but residential buildings and railway were also damaged, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoscow continues to invest in strikes more than in diplomacy,\u201d he said, adding that this week alone Russia launched more than 1,300 drones, more than 1,400 guided aerial bombs, and 96 missiles against Ukraine.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate comment from Russia.<\/p>\n

The US has been trying to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, but progress has been halting, with Russia demanding Ukraine withdraw from parts of the eastern Donbas region it still controls, an idea Kyiv has rejected. Their most recent talks, in Geneva on February 17 and 18, did not produce a breakthrough.<\/p>\n

\" Listening to speeches at the rally in Cork in support of Ukraine to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Picture: Eddie O’Hare\" Victoria Tymoshchuk, right, of Ukraine Community Hub Kalyna, along with members of the choir, at the event to mark the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine at the Church of the Incarnation, Frankfield\/Grange, Douglas, Cork. Picture: David Keane<\/p>\n

At least one person was killed, and another five were wounded in the Kyiv region, with damage reported in five districts where more than a dozen houses were damaged, regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.<\/p>\n

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper wrote that a nighttime drone attack on the energy infrastructure of the region caused fires.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched 50 missiles and 297 drones in overnight attacks, and air defence units shot down or neutralised 33 missiles and 274 drones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis terror cannot be normalised; it must be stopped. Russia cannot wag the world, just as the tail cannot wag the dog,\u201d Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, calling on the international community to impose tough sanctions against the Kremlin.<\/p>\n

\" Nataliia Terekhovska, Orest Biletskyy, and Larysa Stech at at an event marking the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the Church of the Incarnation, Frankfield\/Grange, Douglas, Cork. Picture: David Keane<\/p>\n

Russia attacks the Ukrainian energy system almost daily, striking thermal power plants and electrical substations.<\/p>\n

Attacks on power stations, the energy transmission system, and the gas sector are important elements of the invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia in February 2022.<\/p>\n

Moscow denies targeting civilians, but said Ukraine\u2019s civil infrastructure is a legitimate target because striking it can reduce Kyiv\u2019s ability to wage war.<\/p>\n

Kyiv said the aim is to harm civilians and break the country\u2019s will.<\/p>\n

McEntee: Ireland stands with the Ukrainian people<\/p>\n

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee is travelling to Brussels today to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers, where Ukraine will be under discussion.<\/p>\n

Ms McEntee said: \u201cAs we approach the fourth anniversary of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we are reminded of the immense suffering this war has caused.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Russia can choose to end this war. Instead, it continues its attacks on Ukrainian towns and energy infrastructure. Ireland stands firmly with the Ukrainian people.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to hearing from Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on the latest peace efforts in Geneva. Any outcome must deliver a just and lasting peace \u2014 one that fully respects Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and protects the security of both Ukraine and Europe. The EU must continue its strong political, financial, and military support for Ukraine, including maintaining pressure on Russia through robust sanctions and action against its shadow fleet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting: Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland must stand in solidarity with Ukraine and continue to support its people, politicians at peace rallies across…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[79,61,60,43,2040],"class_list":{"0":"post-312257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-ukraine"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}