Ukraine is defending values and freedoms to prevent any future potential domination of the state over the human, as is currently the case in Russia.

This was the key message of Maksym Butkevych, Philosopher, War Veteran and Human Rights Activist at the 17th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

According to Maksym Butkevych, he never thought that he would become a military man and was in many ways anti-military, but he joined the Ukrainian army.

“I realized that if Russia wins and seizes Ukraine, then all the achievements that we had in protecting human rights… all this will be completely destroyed,” he said.

Therefore, as he explained, his only option was to defend Ukraine. “If you take something seriously, you have to be ready to defend it by all available means,” Maksym Butkevych added.

He said that the enemy not only held him captive as a prisoner-of-war, but also fabricated a criminal case against him.

“The only evidence of my so-called guilt was my confession, which was obtained from me under duress,” the human rights activist said.

“One of the goals of our war for liberation is to stop this machine so that in 80 years’ our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, do not have to sign confessions for something they did not do,” he emphasized.

According to him, while in captivity, he saw that “they (Russians – ed.) put the state first, and human life means nothing if it does not serve the state.”

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” foundation, is the main platform in Ukraine to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.