Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, accusing Russia of genocide and warning that Ukraine’s defeat in the war would lead to further aggression against other countries.
“When hatred is weaponised against one nation, it never stops there,” he said.
Zelensky said Russia’s abduction and deportation of tens of thousands of children from occupied Ukraine was “clearly a genocide”. In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and a senior official over the abductions.
Zelensky used his visit to the United States to rally world leaders and politicians, including wavering Republicans, to support Ukraine.
Asked whether he would support Zelensky’s request for more aid, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters this week: “Is he our president? I don’t think I have to commit anything.”
Zelensky’s trip followed an announcement by Kyiv that all six of Ukraine’s deputy defence ministers had been sacked.
The government did not give a reason for the sackings, which came two weeks after the dismissal of the defence minister. But the purge is believed to be aimed at assuring Ukraine’s Western backers it is addressing mismanagement and corruption.
The overhaul of the defence ministry came as Ukraine’s military was under pressure over the halting progress of its long-awaited counteroffensive. Ukrainian troops this week captured two small villages near the city of Bakhmut – a development some military figures claimed would help quicken its advance.
Read the article by Jonathan Pearlman in The Saturday Paper.