‘What Could Be More Humiliating for the Invaders?’ Zelensky Touts Tanks, Armored Vehicles, Ammunition Seized from Russian Forces
Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky taunted the Russian forces who have invaded his country in his latest video address on Wednesday, mentioning the military assets the Ukrainians had seized that “will now work for our defense, for our lives, for our country.”
The video was posted on Zelensky’s official Telegram channel, where he often posts video messages first in Ukrainian and then with English subtitles.
Zelensky began by observing that it had been 14 days since the invasion began, and praising the “Brave Ukrainians of the unconquered country!” who had stood firm against the Russian onslaught.
“Everything is in our hands!” he said. “We withstood and inspired the whole world with our determination.”
Since the invasion began, social media has been flooded with photos and videos purporting to show Russian tanks and other military equipment being destroyed and seized by the Ukrainians, often by farmers and other civilians, such as this video showing a tractor towing a tank:
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian John Deere Brigade apparently found another abandoned T-80U tank. pic.twitter.com/SsNBXvOIkc
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) March 8, 2022
Zelensky proudly touted the Ukrainians’ seizure of Russian military assets:
Our military and territorial defense units managed to replenish the arsenal of our equipment due to the many they took on the battlefield. Enemy tanks, armored vehicles, ammunition will now work for our defense, for our lives, for our country.
What could be more humiliating for the invaders? We will beat the enemy with his own weapons.
The Ukrainian president directed a portion of his message directly at Russian soldiers, warning them that Ukraine would get revenge for all of their citizens they had killed, especially the children, and the only way for them to avoid death was to give up and leave Ukraine. “Leave our home, go back to yours,” he urged them, otherwise there was nothing waiting for them except for “captivity” or “death.”
Zelensky then turned to the West, urging NATO and the United States to expedite efforts to send Polish fighter jets and solve the “logistics” problems. “It must be solved! Immediately,” he said.
Listen: we have a war! We do not have time for all these signals. This is not ping pong! This is about human lives! We ask once again: solve it faster. Do not shift the responsibility. Send us planes.
Just a few minutes ago, Zelensky posted another video on Telegram that reportedly showed the aftermath of a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in Mariupol and again requested air support. A full English subtitled version is not yet available but the video was captioned with the following text:
Маріуполь. Прямий удар російських військ по пологовому будинку. Люди під завалами. Діти під завалами. Це звірство! Скільки ще світ буде співучасником, ігноруючи терор? Негайно закрийте небо! Негайно зупиніть убивства! Ви маєте силу. Але, схоже, втрачаєте людяність.
_______Mariupol. Direct strike of Russian troops at the maternity hospital. People, children are under the wreckage. Atrocity! How much longer will the world be an accomplice ignoring terror? Close the sky right now! Stop the killings! You have power but you seem to be losing humanity.
Watch the videos above, via Zelenskiy Official on Telegram.
