“We created a petition for the Portuguese Government to transform the Russian embassy into a reception centre for Ukrainian refugees”, said the representative of the Association of Ukrainians in Portugal, Pavlo Sadokha, to Lusa.

The community will question the Portuguese Government about the Russian embassy in Portugal, since Russia “inherited” the space that was from the Soviet Union, but without ever having disclosed “the conditions of this transfer of space”, said Pavlo Sadokha.

The “inheritance” of representations from the former Soviet Union (USSR) by Russia is, in fact, the origin of an appeal by the Government of Kyiv that Ukrainians in Portugal will support.

“We understand that Russia's place on the UN Security Council was never legally confirmed after the fall of the Soviet Union, which was the foundation of the United Nations,” explained the representative of the association.

“Despite this, Russia has a right of veto” in the Security Council, he said, expressing his indignation against what he considers to be an abuse.

Therefore, Ukrainians in Portugal will “appeal to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, on behalf of the community, for him to support the expulsion of Russia from the UN and hold, in February 2023, a ‘peace summit '" Pavlo Sadokha said.

The official, who represents around 56,000 Ukrainians in Portugal, also said that the petition to be delivered to the Government “will also ask that Russia start paying for the war” through the confiscation of Russian assets abroad and their use for reconstruction of Ukraine's territory and infrastructure.

Fundraising

Furthermore, advanced Pavlo Sadokha, the community in Portugal will take the opportunity to reinforce fundraising to buy electricity generators for Ukraine.

“We already have around 10 generators that we are going to take to Ukraine next year, but much more is needed”, he said, recalling that Russia continues to attack the country's energy supply system.

“In my city, in Lviv, 90% of the energy system is damaged”, he said, stressing that he considers the Russian action constitutes “a genocide”, since “surviving in Ukraine without heating in winter is impossible”.