Jonas Roosens/ZUMA
As Russia’s brutal invasion into Ukraine stretched into its sixth day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday delivered an emotional address to the European Parliament, urging leaders to swiftly support Ukraine’s full ascension to the European Union.
“Prove that you are with us,” Zelenskyy said in a video speech. “Prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness.”
“The EU will be much stronger with us,” he continued, as an interpreter choked up translating the remarks into English.
The powerful speech came as Russian forces appeared to be increasingly targeting civilians, prompting Zelenskyy earlier on Tuesday to accuse Russia of war crimes. “This is terror against Ukraine,” he said in a Facebook video after Russia bombed Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. “There were no military targets in the square, nor are they in those residential districts of Kharkiv which come under rocket artillery fire.”
Translator chokes up as Zelensky addresses the European Parliament: "Nobody is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians. We have a desire to see our children alive. I think it's a fair one." pic.twitter.com/AqOzmMPuFx
— Zach Basu (@zacharybasu) March 1, 2022
Meanwhile, diplomats in Geneva on Tuesday staged a walkout to protest Russia’s Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov’s address to the UN Human Rights Council.
This morning in the UN Human Rights Council more than 140 diplomats refused to listen to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s futile attempt to justify unacceptable military aggression. Watch them leave the Council Chamber. pic.twitter.com/Syox5sTvaD
— Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger (@tichy_e) March 1, 2022
Speaking in a video address, Lavrov claimed, without evidence, that Ukraine had been working to acquire nuclear weapons—one of the many false claims Moscow has used to justify its invasion.
