Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional televised speech in the early hours of Thursday morning, addressing the Russian people directly in a bid to prevent the potential outbreak of a full-blown war between Russia and Ukraine.
Listing his personal ties to the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, he stressed Ukraine wanted peace and urged Russians to question the information presented to them by domestic state television.
He said Ukraine was encircled by almost 200,000 Russian troops and thousands of armoured vehicles.
He called on Russians to not believe the narratives about Ukraine being presented on Russian state television, including the often-repeated claim that Ukrainians supported Nazism. He spoke of his grandfather who fought in the second world war as a soldier in the Soviet army.
“Ukraine in your news and Ukraine in reality — that’s two different countries,” Zelensky said.
He asked in the speech how he could possibly order artillery fire on Donbas, where he said he spent much time, had close friends and had buried relatives of friends.
He said Ukrainians and Russians shared a deep, joint history. “Many of you have been to Ukraine, many of you have relatives in Ukraine . . . Listen to us, hear us. The people of Ukraine want peace.”
“We know for sure that we don’t need war, not cold war, not hot war, not hybrid war,” he said. But he said that if anyone tried to snatch away Ukraine’s freedom, it will defend itself.
“I know this speech of mine will not be shown on Russian television,” he said. “But the citizens of Russia must know the truth. And the truth is this needs to stop before it’s too late.”
