Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said Friday that the Russian invasion is intended “as a start” and that Moscow intends to “capture other countries” in the face of recent claims by the Russian Armed Forces about the Moldavian region of Transnistria.
“With reference to the Russian Army, news spread that its task is now supposedly to establish control over southern Ukraine and reach the border with Moldova. And allegedly there, in Moldova, the rights of Russian speakers are violated,” explained the Ukrainian president in reference to the words of Rustam Minnekaev, commander of the Central District of the Army.
Zelensky replied that it is Russian territory that “should take care of the rights of Russian speakers”, since in Russia there is “no freedom of speech” or “freedom of choice”. “There is simply no right to dissent,” he said, adding that in the country “poverty prospers” and “human life is worthless.”
“All nations who, like us, believe in the victory of life over death, must fight with us. They have to help us, because we are the first on this path. And who is next?” , the Ukrainian president asked himself.
“The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to deter attacks by Russian invaders in the east and south of our country. In the direction of Izium, in the Donbas, in Priazovia, in Mariupol (or) the region of Kherson are the places where the fate of this war and the future of our State are decided,” he said.
Zelensky also explained that in places like Sloviansk and Kramatorsk or in Popasna and Kharkiv, located in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, “the occupiers are trying to achieve a primitive goal”, which is to “kill as much as possible and destroy everything they can”.
On the other hand, he thanked the United Kingdom for its decision to return to the British embassy in Kiev. “The United Kingdom became the twenty-first country to return a diplomatic mission to our capital,” he celebrated.
On a positive note, the Ukrainian president also thanked the partners for the military aid, which will “save thousands of people”. Zelenski added that 184 settlements had been cleared this Friday and that at least 500 locations operate humanitarian headquarters.
“Every day there are almost 100 settlements, to which we return medical and educational services, the work of social protection agencies, financial institutions”, he indicated, listing that in 96 settlements transport has been recovered, that in 183 petrol stations are already active and that in at least 90 settlements the electricity.
“The return of Ukraine to cities and communities means the return of life in the full sense of these words. I believe that such a return will take place in the south of our country and in eastern Ukraine. In all areas where degradation, destruction and death have occurred under the Russian flag,” he said.
(With information from Europa Press)
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