Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again called on the international community to supply heavy weapons. In both a video conference with Polish head of state Andrzej Duda on Saturday and a video message broadcast on Sunday night, he called for fighter planes and tanks for the Ukrainian armed forces.
“Ukraine cannot shoot down Russian missiles with rifles and machine guns,” Zelenskyi stressed the demand for heavy weapons. He warned that otherwise the Russian military could pose a subsequent threat to NATO’s neighboring countries.
Some time ago, Poland suggested a possible indirect transfer of its Soviet MiG-29 fighter jets to the Ukrainian armed forces. In order not to deliver the jets directly to Ukraine, the aircraft must first be delivered to the US military. This move was rejected by the United States. Such a move could lead to a direct confrontation between NATO forces and the Russian military, which could lead to an escalation of the war, the reasoning said.
“To fight on an equal footing with enemy forces in the air, you need quantitative and technological upgrades,” said the Ukrainian Air Force leadership, highlighting the demand for fighter jets. “We’re closing airspace ourselves, just give us some weapons.”
Fight and destruction in Mariupol
Defenders of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol are offering “heroic resistance” to Russian attackers, in the words of Mayor Boychenko. In a conversation with the Unian agency, he reported on Sunday night of extremely heavy fighting. He accused the Russian military of taking ruthless measures against all residents of the now heavily damaged city, including ethnic Russians. “They weren’t hired to protect anyone,” Boychenko said. “Your task is simply to erase the city from the surface of the earth, including its inhabitants.” This is simply genocide, “there can be no other name for it”. However, the Ukrainian flag continues to fly over Mariupol, it remains a Ukrainian city.
Boychenko declined to comment on the city’s future or even its liberation by Ukrainian troops outside. “Even the general staff of the Ukrainian army certainly has no answer,” Boychenko said. “I think we must have patience and strength, time will tell.”
Selenskyj speaks of “derussification” by Moscow
According to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, with its war directed against the civilian population, Russia is doing everything to “de-Russify” Ukraine for this and all succeeding generations. “Where the Russians have always been part of everyday life alongside the Ukrainians, in the east of our country, where they (the Russians) are turning peaceful cities into ruins, Russia is doing everything possible to de-Russify our territory,” Zelenskyy said. Information from “Ukrainska Pravda”. In Soviet times, Russian was the dominant language in Ukraine. With the so-called Orange Revolution in 2004, Ukrainians remembered their own language, which differs significantly from Russian.