The Russian army is stepping up its attacks in eastern Ukraine, destroyed gas pipelines in the Donbass will make heating more difficult in winter: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on his compatriots to leave the region. But many do not want to leave their homeland.
In view of the massive attacks by the Russian army in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on people to leave the Donetsk region. "In the Donbass there are hundreds of thousands of people, tens of thousands of children, many refuse to leave," said Zelenskyy in his evening video address. He urged residents of Donbass to make this decision. "Believe me," he said in a pleading tone. "The more people leave Donetsk region, the fewer people the Russian army can kill."
Previously, the Ukrainian government had ordered a mandatory evacuation, arguing that citizens had to get to safety in time before the start of the heating season, as the gas pipelines had been destroyed by the war in the Donetsk region. Zelenskyj now emphasized that everything is being organized for people to flee from the areas of the region still controlled by Ukraine.
The President complained that many citizens are still not insightful. "Go ahead, we'll help," he said. "We are not Russia - precisely because every life is important to us." Zelenskyy once again described Russia as a "terrorist state" and called on the international community to isolate the country. If Russia were classified as a "terror state" by the US, all partners would cut ties with the country.
The President once again strongly condemned the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in a detention center in Olenivka, Donetsk region. According to Russian information, 50 prisoners were killed there on Friday by a rocket attack by the Ukrainian side. Ukraine, in turn, accuses Russia of deliberately killing the soldiers. The information was not independently verifiable.
"This is a mass murder," Zelenskyj said in his video message. The quicker Russia is classified as a "terror state", the quicker the world will be protected from "evil". This is the only way to cut all ties to the country, he emphasized. Political gestures were not enough to condemn the war crime. Action must follow.
