Follow live the latest news on the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski reiterated Thursday his request to Western allies for Russia to be officially considered a terrorist state, claiming that no other country “allows itself to destroy peaceful cities” with cruise missiles and artillery every day.
“As a result of a single rocket attack in our city of Vinitsia, (in the center of the country) 23 people have been killed, of which, three were children under the age of ten. And this, unfortunately, is still not the final number. The analysis of debris is ongoing. Dozens of people are listed as missing”, detailed the Ukrainian president justifying his request.
“And if someone launched a missile attack on a medical center in Dallas or Dresden, God forbid, what would it be called, isn’t it terrorism?”, Zelenski has said in his daily statement to the Ukrainian population.
Also, the Ukrainian president has assured that Russia would have taken the life of a girl in Vinitsia “just at the moment when a conference on Russian war crimes was being held in The Hague, the Netherlands.” “Can you think of any other terrorist organization that would indulge in such audacity? To kill just when their previous crimes are the subject of international discussion,” he added.
Zelensky argued to his allies in the West that such an attitude to international law is a threat to Europe and the whole civilized world, adding that, after that, there is no doubt about the need for a Special Tribunal on “Russian aggression against Ukraine”.
He has also called for a compensation mechanism for victims to be financed with the help of Russian assets and funds confiscated throughout the world, and for restrictions to be implemented against Russian energy exports so that “terrorists do not cover their costs at the expense of the international community.”
“And I want to emphasize: all this is necessary not only for Ukraine, not only for our citizens, whose lives are threatened by Russian terror. This is needed by all of you, everyone in the world who values human life at least a little. Terror is a virus. And if one of the terrorists goes unpunished, it only encourages others,” Zelensky added.
At least 22 people have been killed in an attack by Russian forces on the central Ukrainian city of Vinitsia on Thursday, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Kirilo Tymoshenko, said.