Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the Russian people to rebel against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and to stop the war. “To stop this, you have to stop this one in Russia who wants war more than life,” Zelenskyy said in a video message released in Kyiv on Thursday. Only one person in Russia wants war, he said, referring to Putin. On Friday, he wants to go through with the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Cherson and Zaporizhia against international protests.
In another video published almost at the same time, Selenskyj also addressed the multi-ethnic region of the Caucasus in Russia in particular. He urged people to fight for their freedom and not to be sent to the war in Ukraine. In the Russian republic of Dagestan in particular, there had recently been violent protests against the partial mobilization ordered by Putin. There are complaints that members of ethnic minorities in particular are being sent to serve in the war.
Zelenskyi said Putin “spits” on human lives. Russia brings death, torture, rape and ruin. “You can still stop that.” The citizens would have to stand up and “fight” for that. He praised the broad opposition to the partial mobilization with which Moscow is trying to cover up the failure of the Russian army. But the people of Russia must fight for their freedom, the Ukrainian President warned. “Fight not to die!”
Zelenskyy emphasized that 58,000 Russians have already been killed in Ukraine. Russia does not confirm this number. Zelenskyy further said that Putin would initiate new “waves of mobilization” to continue the war. But many Russians are sent into battle without badges or documents so that they cannot be identified as dead. In his haunting video message, Zelenskyj also advised those convened to have their names tattooed on their skin, so that Ukraine could later hand over the bodies to relatives in Russia.
