Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine told a meeting of the Council of Deputies that the people of the war-torn country are “fighting for strong, democratic values ​​that we share as Jews.”

In emotional speech, Jewish envoy Melinda Simmons said she believes it’s ‘democratic values ​​that threaten President Putin, not the present, not the potential for NATO membership, not the presence of troops foreign…. the presence of a strong and confident democratic country on its border. ”

She added, “That’s what they’re fighting for. And these democratic values ​​are also our values, they are the values, our government, our country, on which we, as Jews, stand, that define us.

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“That’s why we support them the way we do. They are fighting for Ukraine, but they are also fighting for values ​​that we all share.

Simmons, who joined the Foreign Office in 2013 and was appointed envoy to Ukraine six years later, recalled how the reinforcement of Russian troops last March on the country’s borders was a signal of some of Putin’s intentions.

She said at the board meeting in March on Sunday: “We spent four or five months lobbying the international system to hold Russia to account for the presence of these troops. And finally, they said they were there for a military exercise.

“And then they did military drills and then said it was over and they were pulling everyone out.

“But they didn’t pull back… And that meant that from around September I watched and my colleagues watched in growing disbelief as a preparation began, for something anyone knew anything on Ukraine knew that would be a huge miscalculation on Russia’s part.”

Simmons told MPs she believed Putin thought “an invasion would probably last no more than 48 hours to a week at most and they would be greeted on the boulevards by Ukrainians waving flowers”.

After the Russian invasion, Simmons left the capital kyiv for Lviv in western Ukraine, where the threat was considered less acute.

But she revealed: “I left Lviv after there were two missile strikes, one in the west and one in the east.

“And on both occasions, because we didn’t know where those missiles were going to land.”

She said it was too much to ask of her colleagues to stay in the country under threat of bombing and Simmons now lives across the Polish border.

She said at regular border crossings she “saw thousands and thousands of Ukrainians fleeing the country at the moment – ​​most of them from the central-eastern part of the country.”

But like many refugees, Simmons says she intends to return to Ukraine again in her role as an envoy.

“I want to be in Ukraine so I can work alongside Ukrainians, as soon as possible,” she told the Council.

Simmons revealed that she saw “two parts in the future”.

She explained: “One is about justice. It is not too early to record the crimes that have been committed, encourage people at all levels to speak up about their experiences so that we can collect these stories, which will provide evidence, address the already emerging allegations of widespread rape of women, who were left behind largely older women who were less able to travel in the east of the country.

Simmons said now would also be a time to “think about reconciliation.”

The envoy reasoned: “One of the things I noticed even during the first week of the conflict, even when I was just in bed, was how many Ukrainians were becoming radicalized because of the experience of this war.

“It is important to understand that Ukrainians and Russians have lived side by side for centuries.”

Born in the East End but raised in Essex, Melinda Simmons started her career in business before moving into government.

His family is Polish on his father’s side, but his mother is both Lithuanian and Ukrainian.

She first joined the Foreign Office in 2013.

After she finished speaking, Simmons received a long standing ovation from MPs, before Speaker Marie van der Zyl thanked her on behalf of the entire community for her courageous and determined efforts.