UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy received a standing ovation from MPs in the House of Commons today, as he appealed to the UK to continue its support for Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion.
In a speech in which Zelenskyy recounted what the past 13 days of the Russian invasion have been like, he thanked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his country’s support and asked that sanctions continue to help Ukraine continue to fight the Russian army.
Zelenskyy also invoked the famous line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, saying that in response to the question on whether Ukraine would choose “to be or not to be”, Ukraine had chosen “to be”.
“For 13 days this question could have been asked, but now I can give you a definitive answer. It’s definitely yes: to be.”
The Ukrainian President also appealed to British MPs using the famous “fight them on the beaches” World War II speech by Winston Churchill.
I would remind you of words that you will have heard before: we will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight to the end. On the sea and in the air, we will fight for our land whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.
We will fight on the banks of the rivers and we are looking for your help… and for the help of civilised countries.
In his address where he told MPs what the first two weeks of the Russian invasion have been like, and how Ukrainians have reacted, Zelenskyy said that most people did not sleep.
He said that on day four of the invasion, the Ukrainian army were able to capture people, but did not hurt them: “We remained humane even on day four of this terrible war”.
He said the current conflict, in which he said 50 children had been killed, was akin to when Britain “didn’t want to lose your country when the Nazis started to fight your country and you had to fight for Britain”.
“Ukraine was not looking for this, Ukraine was not looking to become big, but they have become big over the course of these days, despite having to fight one of the biggest armies in the world,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy – who is said to have to keep his whereabouts a secret due to the threat of assassination in Kyiv – also repeated his call for a no-fly zone to be established by the West, asking the UK to “make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe”.
Boris Johnson told the House of Commons after Zelenskyy’s speech: “In a great European capital now within range of Russian guns, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is standing firm for democracy and for freedom.”
The Ukrainian ambassador to the UK was among those in the packed parliamentary gallery to see Zelenskyy speak.
The House Speaker Lindsay Hoyle wore a blue and yellow striped tie and MPs wore a blue and yellow ribbon on their lapels for the address.
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