Zelenskyy: On the first day of the war I was "advised to actually surrender to tyranny"

OLHA HLUSHCHENKO, FRIDAY, 15 APRIL 2022, 00:20

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recalled that on the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "the strong of this world" were sympathetic and were not sure that Ukrainians would hold out.

Source: Video Address of Zelenskyy

Quote: "I remember the first day of the Russian invasion. I remember what I was told on 24 February, including by powerful people in this world. To put it mildly, no-one was confident that we would hold out, everyone was sympathetic.

Many advised us to leave the country, advised us to actually surrender to tyranny. But they did not know us and they did not know how brave Ukrainians are, how much we value freedom and our ability to live the way we want. It is us. Not the people whose army was seeing toilets for the first time in their lives, in the occupied territories, and stealing even ordinary household appliances.

The occupiers will answer for everything they have done in Ukraine, for everything they have done against Ukrainians. They will answer for Bucha, Kramatorsk, Volnovakha, Okhtyrka, Hostomel, Borodianka, Izium, Mariupol and all our other beautiful cities and communities of Ukraine, which the Russian army has pushed back 80 years, to that terrible time when everyone in the world would say, "Never again".

Here it is again. Here it is - right now. We will make sure it really is the last time. Because the question of how to guarantee security for Ukraine and for Europe will never be rhetorical again. We will not let this happen".