Ukraine's first lady recalls moment she realized her country was at war: LIVE UPDATES
Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska opened up in a recent interview about the early days of Russia's invasion and how her country is trying to move forward. Zelenska said her family continues to give her hope amid the Russian invasion.
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Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska opened up in a recent interview with Vogue about the early days of Russia's invasion and how her country is trying to move forward.
"There had been a lot of talk, everywhere, about a possible invasion," Zelenska, who has been married to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since 2003, said about the first day of the invasion. "But until the last minute it was impossible to believe that this would happen…in the twenty-first century? In the modern world? I woke up, sometime between 4 and 5 a.m., because of a clunk. I didn’t immediately realize it was an explosion. I didn’t understand what it could be. My husband wasn’t in bed. But when I got up, I saw him at once, already dressed, in a suit as usual (this was the last time I’d see him in a suit and a white shirt—from then on it was military). 'It started.' That’s all he said."
When asked about her "mix of personal and civic feelings", Zelenska responded by pointing out what she believes was Russian President Vladimir Putin's "fatal mistake."
"The war immediately combined the personal and public," Zelenska said. "And this is probably the fatal mistake of the tyrant who attacked us. We are all Ukrainians first, and then everything else. He wanted to divide us, to shatter us, to provoke internal confrontation, but it is impossible to do this with Ukrainians. When one of us is tortured, raped, or killed, we feel that we all are being tortured, raped, or killed. We do not need propaganda to feel civic consciousness, and to resist."
Zelenska praised the way that Ukrainian women have responded to the challenges of war and told multiple stories about heroism shown by Ukrainian women who helped save lives while protecting their own children.
Zelenska also reiterated her husband's call for a "no-fly zone" to be established by the international community over Ukraine.
"We asked to close the sky above us so that Ukrainians would not perish. But NATO considered this to be a direct conflict with Russia," Zelenska said. "So, can I say now that Russia alone is to blame for further deaths? Rhetorical question. You ask if this is the right move for the United States. I say—and this is not only true for the United States—give a tough answer to the actions of the aggressor or the aggressor will be encouraged to move."
Zelenska added, "Russia knows that the West will not cover the sky, and this fact encourages it to commit atrocities."
When asked what gives her hope throughout the Russian invasion, Zelenska pointed to her family.
"My family—just like every Ukrainian—and my compatriots: incredible people who organized to help the army and help each other," Zelenska said. "Now all Ukrainians are the army. Everyone does what they can. There are stories about grandmothers who bake bread for the army just because they feel this call. They want to bring victory closer."
Standard & Poor's issued a downgrade of Russia's foreign currency rating increasing the prospect of defaulting on external loans for the first time in more than a century.
The credit rating agency issued the downgrade to "selective default" late Friday.
&P didn’t expect Russia to be able to convert the rubles into dollars within the 30-day grace period allowed.
Read more: Clock ticks toward Russia default after S&P downgrade
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was joined in Kyiv by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who vowed additional military assistance in their war with Russia.
The additional 120 armored vehicles and new missile systems, however, is not enough, the Ukrainian president said.
“Of course it’s not enough. Because Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone," Zelenskyy added. "The entire European project is a target for Russia.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Russia forces have vacated the area surrounding Chernobyl, but Ukrainian officials are now sounding the alarm that troops were likely exposed to high amounts of radiation after they intentionally disturbed radioactive dust, reports said Saturday.
Workers at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, have warned for weeks that Russian troops were kicking up clouds of radioactive dust after driving armored vehicles through an area known as the "red forest."
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Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko appeared on ‘Cavuto Live’ to discuss the war in Ukraine after a Russian attack on a train station in Kramatorsk Friday morning left dozens dead and more than 100 hurt.
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ShelterBox USA president Kerri Murray details the organization's efforts to provide essential shelter and safety items to Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war.
Former Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor on the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war.
A group of nine House representatives and a senior republican senator will journey through four countries to visit with Ukrainian refugees seeking shelter after crossing the Polish border to escape Russia’s invasion.
The delegation, led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and former House Energy and Commerce chairman Fred Upton, R-Mi., will start in Germany, where it will meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The delegation will then travel to Denmark to meet with the Danish defense minister and finance minister to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine.
"We will meet with democratic leaders and NATO allies across eastern Europe to discuss how we can further aid the Ukrainian people to ensure they have the equipment and tools to defeat Putin and his murderous thugs," Upton said ahead of the trip.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., will join the delegation as a senior Republican.
“I look forward to meeting with government and defense leaders in Germany, Denmark, and Poland, speaking with refugees and aid workers at the border, and having the opportunity to thank our U.S. military members serving abroad,” Blunt said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instated a new commander to lead operations in Ukraine as officials warn Moscow is looking to shift its focus in eastern Ukraine after more than six weeks of war.
Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s southern military district (SMD), will now lead the invasion, first reported the BBC late Friday.
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In a brief, pre-recorded speech at a Stand Up For Ukraine forum organized in Warsaw, Poland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for additional sanctions against Russia and more support.
"Sanctions must be imposed against all Russian banks. Russian oil embargo must be imposed. The Russian war crimes machine should be denied its capacity to act," he urged.
"Vital assistance should be provided to Ukraine. We have asked for weapons. We've asked for financial assistance. We have asked for support to Ukraine and migrants for those 10 million people forced by Russians to flee their homes."
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British PM Boris Johnson meets with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital city of Kyiv. Courtesy of Embassy of Ukraine in the U.K.
The mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol said that roughly 31,000 residents have been forcibly deported and sent to Russian "filtration camps" in occupied eastern Ukraine.
Mayor Vadym Boychenko said in a Telegram post Friday that he had "verified" that Ukrainians from the southern port city were being taken "at gunpoint" to a camp in Novoazovsk – a Ukrainian border town 35 miles from Mariupol and just 9 miles from the Russian border.
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Members of the European Union delegation announced Friday that they will remain in Kyiv to reopen the delegation and assess conditions for staff to return, Reuters reported.
Josep Borrell, High Representative for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the move would allow the bloc to better support Ukrainian citizens.
Italy announced Saturday that it planned to follow suit, with a target to reopen its Kyiv embassy “immediately after Easter,” according to Italian Foreign Minister Di Maio.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stand next to a mass grave as they visit the town of Bucha, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine April 8, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Several actions by Russia in recent days, along with a looming holiday that is culturally significant within the country, point to Russia escalating its invasion of Ukraine in the near future, an expert tells Fox News Digital.
Rebekah Koffler, a former U.S. DIA intelligence officer focused on Russia and the author of "Putin's Playbook: Russia's Secret Plan to Defeat America," told Fox News Digital Friday that May 9, the day Russia celebrates victory over Germany in World War II, is a date by which Putin feels pressure to achieve some sort of victory in Ukraine.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's nightly address on Friday included updates about the Russian attack on the Kramatorsk railway station and renewed calls for international action.
In one particular statement, Zelenskyy addressed "excuses" countries have for delaying essential aid to Ukraine.
"Any delay in providing such weapons to Ukraine, any excuses can mean only one thing: the relevant politicians want to help the Russian leadership more than us Ukrainians," he said.
The Ukrainian government has composed a website to archive alleged war crimes committed by Russia's military forces during its invasion of their country.
According to the website, over 1,500 civilians have been killed in the war and another 2,200 have been injured.
"Russian troops have destroyed more than 6,800 civilian infrastructure facilities," the archive reads, pointing to power plants, schools, and kindergartens that have been shelled.
"The main target of the Russian military is Ukrainian civilians. And here are the consequences," the archive continues, with dozens of before and after photos showing the carnage and devastation caused by the war.
"We were driving around the city, and corpses were lying around. Women, men, children. We tried to distract our children in the car so they wouldn’t look there. It’s horrible," a witness is quoted as saying in the archive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia's military of committing "war crimes" and renewed calls for the international community to hold it accountable following an attack on a civilian train station that killed at least 52 people.
“Like the massacres in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile attack on Kramatorsk should be one of the charges at the tribunal that must be held,” Zelenskyy said.
The Ukrainian leader said he would seek “to establish every minute of who did what, who gave what orders, where the missile came from, who transported it, who gave the command and how this strike was agreed to.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia’s military of intentionally targeting a train station in Kramatorsk that killed at least 52 people and injured more than 100 others.
Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address Friday his government seeks “to establish every minute of who did what, who gave what orders, where the missile came from, who transported it, who gave the command and how this strike was agreed to."
Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Goncharenko painted a dire scene, saying: “There are many people in a serious condition, without arms or legs."
Russia has denied involvement in the attack, blaming Ukraine instead. Russian officials said it does not use the missile that struck the station.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russia is reorganizing its military operations in Ukraine, including a change of its senior leadership, according to a report.
Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, who led Russia's invasion in Syria, will now lead the Ukrainian invasion, according to the BBC.
“That particular commander has a lot of experience of operations of Russian operations in Syria. So we would expect the overall command and control to improve,” a source told the outlet.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to reports that Russian troops bombed a train station killing dozens during a White House briefing on Friday.
"What we've seen over the course of the last six weeks or more than that has been what the president himself has characterized as war crimes," Psaki said. "Which is the intentional targeting of civilians. This is yet another horrific atrocity committed by Russia, striking civilians who are trying to evacuate and reach safety.
Psaki stopped short of calling the train station attack a war crime but said the United States is investigating what happened.
"Obviously, the targeting of civilians would certainly be a war crime," Psaki said. "And we've already called a range of the actions we've seen to date a war crime. But we're going to be supporting efforts to investigate exactly what happened here."
Russia is ramping up its war effort in eastern Ukraine, and a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Friday that Moscow could look to recruit as many as 60,000 soldiers to join the fight.
The official said the Pentagon has seen "indications" that Russia is looking to launch a "mobilization phase" as it refits soldiers in Russia and Belarus.
Moscow said last week that, in a show of good faith, it would remove troops from areas around the capital city of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.
Read more: Russia to mobilize 60,000 reservists as it sets its sights on eastern Ukraine
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