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A Ukrainian member of parliament is warning that cities like Kyiv will be the “next Aleppo” unless the West steps up and backs its vocal support of Ukraine with significantly more action than it is already taking to combat the Russian invasion.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Oleksandra Ustinova said that more than 2,000 civilians have been killed so far in the Russian invasion and that number could rise dramatically as Russia launches attacks on cities like Kharkiv and Kiev.
“It’s a disaster, Kharkiv is in ruins and this was the second-biggest city in Ukraine with a two million population, it’s literally in ruins,” she said. Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities, was largely destroyed in the country’s civil war a decade ago.
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WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES
Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksandra Ustinova cited estimates that more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the Russian bombardment.
(Oleksandra Ustinova)
Ustinova said the army has stopped the Russians coming into city, but the sky is open, meaning Russia can deploy missile and bombs that are hitting the civilian population sheltered in those cities. She provided photographs to Fox News that show children being sheltered underground and receiving treatment for their injuries.
“The first few days Putin was targeting army objectives, infrastructure objectives like airports, army bases, electric stations, now he is just shooting the civilian population,” she said. “They’re targeting kindergartens, preschool…orphanages, maternity hospitals residential areas, that’s why we have so many civilians killed.”
“So his strategy is to get as many people killed as he can and put us at the table for negotiations,” she said.
The invasion of Ukraine has seen an outpouring of support from the West, including multiple waves of sanctions on banks and oligarchs that have hit the Russian economy. Meanwhile, politicians and public figures in the U.S. and abroad have been vocal in their support.
Ukraine has accused Russia of war crimes by targeting kindergartens and child care centers.
(Oleksandra Ustinova MP)
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. was applauded at the State of the Union by lawmakers, many of whom were wearing Ukrainian lapel pins. President Biden, meanwhile, touted the sanctions his administration has imposed and the unity among NATO allies it has sparked.
“In the battle between democracy and autocracies, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security,” he said.
However, Ukrainian officials have been sounding the alarm that more needs to be done from the West, including more sweeping sanctions, more technology and a no-fly zone implemented over Ukraine.
“I saw there was a union in supporting Ukraine,” Ustinova said. “The question is how far the West can go in this support. Are they ready to pay 20-30 cents extra for gas in this support? So far from what I can see, no. So I’m sorry, but Ukrainians will not applaud it, Ukrainians are literally putting their lives for democracy in the world at the moment, and the world is not willing to pay extra for gas and oil.”
Ustinova said the sanctions were not nearly strong enough because they are specifically carved out so they do not target the energy sector
“The sanctions that were implemented on Russia avoided the energy sector, it means you keep buying oil and gas from them and the rest of the world does. This is the number-one income for Putin and his army,” she said.
Ukrainian cities have come under heavy bombardment from Russian forces.
(Oleksandra Ustinova MP)
She said the much-touted ban on seven Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system does not scratch the surface.
“They switched off seven banks out of more than 300 that Russia has, that’s basically, it’s not even strong sanctions,” she said. “We need secondary sanctions that any bank that works with a Russian bank will be sanctioned as well, it means that all the Western banks would refuse to work with any Russian bank, and that’s how we can isolate their banking system.”
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Ustinova stressed that in the 1990s Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for guarantees about its sovereignty — guarantees from the West that are now not being met.
“We did that because we were promised by the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia that they would protect us in case there is a threat to our sovereignty. Well, I’m sorry it’s not happening, you’re not even willing to pay extra money for gas,” she said.
Children have sheltered underground in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
(Oleksandra Ustinova MP)
Noting Biden’s promise that U.S. troops would not be sent into Ukraine, Ustinova said that Ukraine is not asking for that — instead asking for Iron Dome-type technology, a no-fly zone and stronger sanctions on Putin.
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“We’re not asking to send troops to Ukraine, we’re asking to give us the technology to protect the sky, to shoot the missiles down, to do the no-fly zone, so they can not send their airplanes and drop bombs on our cities, because probably soon Kyiv and Kharkiv will be totally erased from the map, it’s going to be a second Aleppo, Kyiv, and the world keeps watching it telling us that ‘we are doing the best we can’’”
“Well, if partial sanctions and seven out of 300 banks is the best that the Western world can do to stop one single bully and murderer, then probably this is something wrong with this world,” she said.
