R Krishna Das
It is now official; Ukraine has been left alone to fight Russia that launched a full-scale invasion on the country Thursday.
“We have been left alone in defending our nation. Who is ready to fight with us? I don’t see anybody,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an emotional message to the country on the second day of the Russian invasion on Friday.
Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee to join NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), he asked and responded: “Everyone is afraid!”
Zelensky said: “Today, I have asked 27 European leaders whether Ukraine will be in NATO. I have asked directly—Everyone is afraid. No one answers.”
The Ukraine President however displayed his courage to lead the country in the hour of crisis and said they were not afraid; they are not afraid of anything. “We are not afraid to defend our country, we are not afraid of Russia,” he said, opening the possibility of parley to resolve the crisis. “We are not afraid to talk to Russia,” Zelensky said.
Ukrainian officials said that multiple missile strikes hit Kyiv early Friday. “They (Russians) say that civilian objects are not a target for them. It is a lie, they do not distinguish in which areas to operate,” Ukraine President said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s forces have entered the Obolon district in Kyiv, where the Ukrainian military is currently fighting them. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry asks residents not to leave their house and prepare Molotov cocktails. The district is approximately 10 km from central Kyiv.
