‘Come out to your squares, be seen and heard, say people matter’: Zelenskiy called on millions of people around the world to take to the streets and protest Putin’s invasion to mark a month since it began
- Zelensky delivers impassioned speech ahead of month-long anniversary
- He called on people around the world to “rise up against the war that will start on March 24.”
- Hundreds of civilians have been killed, hundreds more injured, and more than three million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded a neighboring country.
- Russia is now bogged down in a grueling military campaign and, in the absence of significant military achievements, is resorting to medieval artillery bombardment tactics.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged citizens around the world to take to the streets to protest Russia’s invasion of his country.
“Come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, support freedom, support life,” Zelensky said in a video message in English. “Come out to your squares, to your streets, make yourself visible and heard.”
In an impassioned speech on the eve of the month-long anniversary of the Russian invasion, Zelenskiy called on people around the world to “speak up against the war starting on March 24…and after that” to stand up against Russia’s bloody war.
“Show your position, get out of your offices, your homes, your schools and universities, get out in the name of peace,” Zelensky said.
“Say that people matter. Freedom matters. The world matters. Ukraine matters. Since March 24 in the centers of your cities, everyone is as one who wants to stop the war.”
Hundreds of civilians have been killed, hundreds more injured and more than three million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia invaded the neighboring country on February 24 to thwart its pro-Western course.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday urged citizens around the world to take to the streets to protest Russia’s invasion of his country in an impassioned video (pictured)
When Russia unleashed its invasion on February 24, the biggest offensive in Europe since World War II, the democratically elected Ukrainian government seemed likely to be quickly overthrown.
But as Wednesday marks four full weeks of fighting, Russia is mired in a grueling military campaign.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops have repeatedly slowed down or stopped their ground forces armed with Ukrainian units armed with Western weapons. .
While the Kremlin is showing little sign of further Russian advance, it is showing little sign of backing away from the demands it is demanding for its troop withdrawal.
Zelensky offered to meet with Putin personally, but he has so far refused.
“The war of Russia is not only a war against Ukraine, its meaning is much wider. Russia has started a war against freedom as such,” the Ukrainian president said in his address on Wednesday evening.
Pictured: activists and young Ukrainians demonstrating with a giant peace sign and “Stop Putin’s Oil” sign in front of Jusutus Lispsius; EU Council building and Berlaymont, EU Commission building March 22, 2022
“This is just the beginning for Russia on Ukrainian soil. Russia is trying to win the freedom of all people in Europe – all people in the world. He tries to show that only brute and brutal force matters.
“He tries to show that people are not as important as everything else that makes us human. That’s why we all have to stop Russia. The world must stop the war.
I thank everyone who speaks in support of Ukraine, in support of freedom. But the war continues. Terrorist acts against civilians continue.
“It’s been a month. So long. This breaks my heart. The hearts of all Ukrainians and every free person on the planet,” he said.