Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday morning that his country’s vastly outnumbered defense forces had held their lines against Russia’s invasion through another night of punishing airstrikes.
“They wanted to destroy us so many times. They couldn’t. We’ve been through so much! And if someone thinks that, having overcome all this, Ukrainians will be frightened, broken or surrender — he knows nothing about Ukraine, and he has nothing to do in Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his latest video message. “We have nothing to lose but our own freedom.”
Zelensky said his country was receiving more weapons and other supplies daily from its international allies. The Biden Administration, while unwilling to send U.S. troops or aircraft to help non-NATO member Ukraine directly, is supplying a lot of the country’s weaponry. A U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Wednesday that 200 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles were among the items delivered to Ukraine, and hundreds more were being sent — all part of a $350 million package of military support.
But the U.S. and NATO have declined to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, as Ukrainian leaders have requested, deeming the prospect of direct fire between NATO and Russian aircraft too risky. So Ukraine is left to endure Russia’s devastating aerial assault, and while a second round of direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations was expected this week, America’s U.N. ambassador warned Wednesday that Russia appeared to be “preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign.”
Already more than 1 million people have fled the country. The U.N. human rights office says 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 injured. Ukrainian officials put the civilian death toll at over 2,000, including 21 children. Russia has confirmed military casualties, saying nearly 500 of its troops have died, but Zelensky says Putin’s forces have lost more like 9,000. Ukraine has not revealed its own military casualty figures.
