Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed his country on Thursday morning, telling people to stay home.
“I spoke with President Biden,” Zelensky said. “The USA is preparing international support.”
Putin declared a full-scale war on Ukraine in a speech that was broadcast late Wednesday in the U.S. and early Thursday in Russia. As the speech ended, explosions sounded throughout Ukriane, with reports suggesting that Russian troops have staged amphibious landings in Odessa and Mariupol and are crossing the border near Kharkiv.
Zelensky spoke in Russian in a speech Wednesday evening, saying that Ukraine would fight back if attacked.
Now that Ukraine has been attacked, Zelensky addressed Ukraine, stating that he was placing the country under martial law.
“We are working, the army is working,” he said. “The whole defense sector of Ukraine is working.”
Zelensky addressed his country after speaking with Biden, and appeared to speak into a phone.
“I will remain in constant contact with you, the security council,” he said, adding that the rest of the government would stay online.
“No panic, we are strong, we are prepared for it all, we will win,” Zelensky said.
I hope that they are able to stand firm. The choice here appears to be between the frying pan and the fire for Ukraine, given the constraints and mismatched sizes of the two country’s militaries, at least on paper. Ukraine is a big territory and Russia very likely does not want to get bogged down there for longer than one campaign season. If Russia does get bogged down there then Putin’s options shrink rapidly…both domestically and internationally.
Does putin care at all about actually occupying a functioning country, or will he go for scorched earth? Destruction and instability seem to favor his goals.
Putin is showing that he is a bully. What he wants, he will get. I sure hope that we do something more than just sanctions.