Ukraine’s UN ambassador blasts Russian counterpart as plea comes from inside war zone

A Ukrainian opposition parliament member has revealed devastating insight into life in Ukraine as Russian bombs rocked the city.

A Ukrainian opposition parliament member has revealed devastating insight into life in Ukraine as Russian bombs rocked the city.

In the capital Kyiz, large explosions and emergency sirens rocked the city as Russia launched its attack on eastern Ukraine.

Lesia Vasylenko and her parliamentary colleagues voted to impose martial law after an urgent 5.30am meeting.

“At ths point in time we do not have exact information as the attacks happened in the dark, so it is impossible to assess the scale of the damage and there is a general sense of tension in the government quarter of Kyiv,” she said.

She told RTE News: “It’s surreal, “I never thought I would be living through the nightmare that my grandmother, who lived through World War 2, was telling me about.

Vasylenko added that Russian soldiers had occupied or bombed Ukrainian airports and were now marching on to Kyiv.

“Evacuations, bomb threats...air bases and airports being shelled or mined or bombed.

“Russian military is on the move towards Kyiz, explosions around the government quarter where I am now located in Kyiz, it’s surreal.

“I didn’t even ever have nightmares about this in my life.

“Now all regions in Ukriane are in a state of war and martial law.”

MPs are on standby despite the fact their safety is not guaranteed. She begged the international community to “act immediately.

“Support should be gathering from around the world,” she said/

She told Sky News that Putin is “either going to destroy our country physically, or he is going to destroy us politically by putting pressure now on the people, keeping the people in fear”.

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenkko.

‘To hell’: Ukraine faces off with Russia at UN

Ukraine‘s ambassador to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, delivered a blistering speech on Wednesday condemning Russia for launching a military operation against his country and ended the meeting with a sharply-worded parting shot.

In comments directed to the Russian ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, at an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, Kyslytsya said, “About 48 minutes ago, your president declared war on Ukraine.”

Kyslytsya called on Nebenzya to “say on the record that at this very moment your troops do not shell and bomb Ukrainian cities, that your troops do not move in to territory of Ukraine.”

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya at the United Nations Security Council in New York City to discuss the Russian invasion. Picture: Reuters.

The Ukrainian ambassador said that if Russia‘s representative could not answer in the affirmative, he should step down from his leadership position. Nebenzya claimed after Kyslytsya’s remarks that the military operation Moscow has launched against Ukraine did not constitute a war.

That was not the only tense moment during the Security Council meeting though.

“There is no purgatory for war criminals,” Kyslytsya said to the Russian ambassador at the end of the meeting. ”They go straight to hell”.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.N. @SergiyKyslytsya: "There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell ambassador." pic.twitter.com/exlYjFf7f9

— CSPAN (@cspan) February 24, 2022

These developments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia was launching a “special military operation” against Ukraine, effectively declaring war. There were subsequently reports of explosions in multiple Ukrainian cities, including the capital city of Kyiv.

President Joe Biden denounced Putin for launching an “unprovoked and unjustified attack.”

Central Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way,” Biden said in a statement. ”The world will hold Russia accountable.”

Biden has repeatedly said that the US will not send in troops to defend Ukraine against a Russian attack, but earlier this week, he slapped sanctions on Russia over its recent actions. The president has also warned of “steeper” consequences if Russia escalated the situation and continued take aggressive steps against Ukraine.

Originally published as Ukraine’s UN ambassador blasts Russian counterpart as plea comes from inside war zone