‘Prove you are with us’ : Zelensky issues powerful speech to EU as interpreter becomes emotional

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky urged the EU to “prove you are with us” in a defiant speech on Tuesday.

Mr Zelenesky, who has become a symbol of defiance for his country, issued an impassioned speech via video link, where he called on the EU to stand with Ukraine as Russia continues its deadly advance on the country.

During his speech, Mr Zelensky described the missile strikes on Kharkiv, as an act of terror against the city, and indeed Ukraine.

As he spoke of the country’s fight to defend its “freedom” and land from the Russian invaders, the bloc’s official Ukrainian-English interpreter seemingly becomes emotional as he listened to Mr Zelensky’s defiant speech.

Mr Zelensky said: “Without you, Ukraine is going to be lonesome. We have proven our strengths. We are exactly the same as you.

“So prove that you are with us. Prove that you will not let us go. Prove that you indeed are Europeans and that life will win over death, and light will win over darkness.”

Russian missiles struck Kharkiv’s administration building on Tuesday morning.

Although the building was not destroyed, Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional state administration said six people had been injured, including one child from the attack.

Mr Zelensky added: “This is terror against the city, this is terror against Kharkiv, terror against Ukraine. There was no military target on the square.

“The rocket to the central square is outright, undisguised terror. No one will forgive. Nobody will forget. This strike on Kharkiv is a war crime.”

It was the first time the Russian military had hit the centre of the city of about 1.5 million people, whose residential neighbourhoods have been under fire for days.

Ukrainian officials said on Monday, 16 children had been killed due to Russia’s barbaric strikes, while the United Nations has claimed 520,000 people have fled the country since the invasion.

Due to the shelling of civilian targets, Justice Secretary Dominic Raab claimed Russian generals and politicians could face jail for life due to the catastrophic weapons which have been unleashed in Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court has also opened an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity concerning Russia’s invasion.

During a trip to Estonia, Boris Johnson called bombing of Kharkiv as “sickening” and likened it to the attacks on Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.

He added: “It has that feel to me of an atrocity committed deliberately against a civilian centre.”