The first foreign leader that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called when Russia invaded Ukraine was Boris Johnson from Britain.
Sky News asked the top security official of the US president why the UK prime minster was at number one on the list. He replied, “They are friends.” Britain is our friend.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine , has been at Mr Zelenskyy’s side in Kyiv over the past eight weeks of war.
He shared how he spoke to his boss about the danger of remaining in Kyiv at the beginning of Russia‘s offensive, which was aimed at overthrowing Ukraine’s government. According to western intelligence agencies, the president should leave.
He said to me, “I won’t go. It will be what happens. We will fight ‘… It is up to you to speak those words in that moment.
Other important developments:
After planning to provide more weapons aid to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden met with military leaders at the White House.
* The World Bank warned that the food security crisis caused in part by the war could continue into next year.
* Boris Johnson stated that peace talks with Russia are likely fail and compared holding negotiations with Putin to negotiating alongside a crocodile.
* Wimbledon has banned all Russian and Belarusian tennis players from the 2018 Wimbledon tennis championships
A green band was worn on Mr Danilov’s right arm by all Ukrainian defenders. It signifies his confidence that his country will defeat Russia. He said that victory would be “much quicker” if the western allies delivered promised weapons as soon possible.
“War will end with our victory”
“We now need heavy weapons, but we also need armoured vehicles. We need long range artillery… It is extremely, very important to us,” Mr Danilov stated in an interview on Thursday. He noted that weapons delivery times have increased over the past two weeks.
When asked how the war would end, he replied: “It will end with our victory…If those weapons which were promised to us by our partners will be delivered as quickly as possible it is possible to be much quicker.”
He admitted that Ukraine’s military wouldn’t have been able to defend Kyiv in the second phase of the invasion with western weapons such as anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft rockets.
When asked directly if the defense of the capital would have been possible without the US, British and other allies’ lethal assistance, Mr Danilov replied “I tell you honestly no,”
Continue reading: Ukraine war – Russia will seize Mariupol Today, Putin’s ally claims
“We would resist, but that would have proven very, very difficult… We pushed them out from Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy areas thanks to the effectiveness and bravery of our soldiers. They [Russia] claim they withdrew from their choice, but that is false.
The Battle for Kyiv ended with the Russian forces withdrawing from the north. They then regrouped and began a new offensive this week in the east, the Battle for Donbas.
It stretches across the Donetsk-Luhansk regions, where Ukrainian troops have been fighting Russia’s-backed separatists from 2014. Kharkiv, in the eastern region, is also at the frontline.
Analysts speculate that Putin might want to declare victory in Ukraine through Russia’s annual Victory Day, which is on May 9. It marks the victory of Nazi Germany in World War II and is the most important day on the Russian military calendar.
According to Mr Danilov, the Kremlin will not be able to achieve any success if the western allies continue to supply weapons to Ukraine.
He said, “If this helps continue, Putin will not have anything by 9 May.” Moscow could mourn instead.
Other comments by the top Ukrainian security officer stated that Syrians, who were hired by Russia to fight in the war in Ukraine, have begun to appear on the battlefield.
Mr Danilov shared photos that showed three dead fighters wearing military-style fatigues with their faces clearly visible along with other indistinguishable body parts.
He claimed they were foreign fighters that had been killed in Luhansk.
A Danilov aide said that the fighters were from Syria or Libya.
“There are many of them there, and they continue gathering from all over the globe,” Mr Danilov stated.
Continue reading: The battlegrounds of the Battle of the Donbas and Russia’s attempt at taking east Ukraine
Although it was impossible to independently verify this claim, Kremlin officials previously stated plans to recruit as many as 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East in order to support its war.
M. Danilov stated that it was difficult to estimate the number of Syrians who have been killed. They are not counted. We don’t have the time to count them all… It doesn’t matter how many they send, they will all be murdered.”
According to the security official, he didn’t feel afraid in the face Russian threats – something he intended to share with his youngest grandchild, who was born this year.
“He will be able to ask me when the war happened if you were scared.” What should I say? Was I afraid? No. They [Russia] ought to be afraid.”
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He is not afraid to express emotion.
When asked how he managed to smile even under the stress of war, he replied: “Listen, what do I have to do? Lay down and die.” The good news is that life goes on.
“Yes, we are going through some tough times. It is important to understand that I am in pain. I went to Chernihiv to see the Russian border. The border point was completely destroyed. There was no place to go.
“We brought a brand new flag because the old one was damaged. The flag was put up by border soldiers who were able to survive and they began singing the national anthem. People who survived the meat grinder sang the national anthem first.
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