Most tragic Oscar in history of mankind: Mariupol official on best documentary award

He said this on Espreso TV.

"I have complicated feelings because my family and I saw all these atrocities of the Russian invaders with our own eyes. My family and I survived a long three-week blockade in Mariupol, when the Russians surrounded the city and did not let free people, Ukrainian citizens, leave the city, causing a humanitarian catastrophe. The occupiers first plunged Mariupol into the Stone Age, and then began to kill civilians by the thousands, shelling the city with artillery and aircraft, destroying residential high-rise buildings," Zabavin recalled.

He added that all citizens of Ukraine, all international partners, and the entire world community should watch 20 Days in Mariupol because it is the most tragic Oscar in the history of mankind.

"I watched the movie twice with my wife, and it was very hard. We saw footage of many places where the film crew was. The film showed the genocide of the Ukrainian people by Russia and the atrocities of the inhumane Russian nation of murderers and terrorists. The world community must understand that if they do not stop the Russian invasion now, the whole world may plunge into darkness because Russia will not stop in Ukraine," Zabavin emphasized.

• At the Oscars 2024 in the United States, Mstyslav Chernov's film about the first days of Russia's invasion of Mariupol was recognized as the first in the Best Documentary category.
• President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the creators of the Ukrainian film 20 Days in Mariupol, which won the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary.