Images of bodies thrown into open graves; bloodied and mutilated children; buildings are destroyed when Russian missiles fall from the sky; and scenes of weeping refugees with their meager belongings trying to escape from the besieged cities of Ukraine.
Rarely, if ever, has the US Congress witnessed anything like this powerfully moving and brutal graphic video presented Vladimir Zelensky during his speech before the US Congress.
“This is murder,” the caption on the screen simply reads, followed by images of a family lying dead in the street, a mass grave, and a man weeping next to the body of a loved one covered in blood. wet blanket on a hospital gurney.
The intensity of the 2 minute 20 second video was punctuated by scenes of Ukraine in happier times, just a few weeks ago, a brief city tour of families enjoying the freedom of the outdoors, their children in playgrounds and feeding pigeons. . An old man with a cane enjoys a walk in the park until the street in front of him explodes in a fireball as the rocket lands.
The message from such images was clear: it could be any western city, including those in the United States. Zelenskiy’s remarks, in which he compares the shelling his country is under to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the horrors of the September 11, 2001 attacks, will resonate with members of Congress.
“You could hear the pin fall and some legislators wiped away tears when [Zelenskiy] showed a video of the horrors unfolding in his country,” said NBC White House Chief Correspondent Kristen Welker. tweeted.
The video ends with new images of wounded children, corpses and destruction caused by Russian aerial bombardment, then the screen fades to black with a plea to “Close the skies over Ukraine.”
It remains to be seen whether the video or Zelenskiy’s broader call for help will sway Joe Biden’s stance, but some lawmakers were immediately moved.
“We have to give them what they need,” Ohio Republican Congressman Bill Johnson said. he recorded a video at the exit from the hall after the speech of the President of Ukraine.
“We need to give them rockets, [and] both manned and unmanned aerial vehicles so that they can establish their own no-fly zone. And we must provide humanitarian assistance to the millions of people who have been uprooted from their homes, their families have been killed, their schools have been destroyed.”
Here is the full video posted by The Recount
Count (@therecount)
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy showed Congress this powerful video depicting Ukraine before and during the invasion.
The video ends with a familiar call to the no-fly zone: “Close the skies over Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/8nG0w9sv4y