Zelenskyy urges Russians to protest: “Children of top officials won’t have to fight. They don’t care what happens to your children”
ALONA MAZURENKO – THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2022, 22:13
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has urged all Russians to take part in protests against their government if they do not want to lose more soldiers in the war with Ukraine. He said he was certain that children of Russian government officials would not have to fight. Meanwhile, Russia does not care enough to even properly bury children of ordinary civilians killed in battle.
Source: Zelenskyy’s video address
Quote from Zelenskyy: "Protests against mobilisation took place in [many] Russian cities. They were not huge, but at least they did take place. And they are continuing to take place. This is an indicator [of opposition to the Russian government], not just in Moscow and St. Petersburg. We know what the mood really is in [more remote] Russian regions.
We see that people in Dagestan, in Buryatia, in other national republics and regions of Russia understand that they were just abandoned, abandoned to die.
Why is it, for example, that the people of Dagestan, or any other people, have to die in Kharkiv Oblast or near Donetsk? Because one person in Russia made this decision on behalf of every Russian citizen. There is no other reason. That’s what he wants.
You are already accomplices in all these crimes, in the murders and torture of Ukrainians. Because you remained silent. Because you continue to remain silent.
And now it's time for you to choose. For men in Russia, this is a choice between death and life, between becoming a cripple or preserving good health. For women in Russia, the choice is between losing their husbands, sons and grandchildren forever and trying to protect them from death, from war, from that one person.
Just think about the number of people they want to [mobilise]!
We know for sure that the conscription letters for 300,000 people were printed and signed in advance, even before this decision on mobilisation was announced. Our intelligence has uncovered it. But the Russian leadership is preparing to take up to a million men into the army. This is the main issue that remains shrouded in silence.
We know that they will [mobilise] everyone, indiscriminately. Not only the reservists, but every man [in Russia is at risk of being mobilised]. [Russian officials] will intimidate every man to the point that he is more afraid of evading the war than of dying in the war.
A total of 55,000 Russian soldiers died in this war in its first six months. Tens of thousands have been wounded and maimed. You want more? No? Then protest. Fight back. Run away, or surrender to Ukrainian captivity. These are the options you have available that will allow you to survive.
Russian mothers! Have no doubt that the children of the top officials of your country will not be sent to [fight in] the war against Ukraine. Those who make decisions in your country take care of their children. Meanwhile, they do not even bury your children."
Details: Zelenskyy addressed the Russians in Russian, so they could better grasp his message.
He said that Russia’s decision to announce mobilisation is a "frank admission" of the fact that the country’s regular army, which has spent decades training to take over foreign countries, did not withstand the war in Ukraine and has begun to crumble. "And now, as a result of the mobilisation, Russia's war against Ukraine will no longer remain something broadcast on TV or on the Internet for the majority of Russian citizens, but something that has entered every Russian home."
Zelenskyy said that the Russian leadership’s change of tactics and attempts to draw even more Russian citizens and resources into the war are the country’s response to Ukraine’s strength.
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