Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he believed “tens of thousands” of people in Mariupol had been killed, as he asked South Korean lawmakers to provide military assistance.
Speaking to South Korea’s National Assembly by video link, Zelenskyy said Russia had “completely destroyed” the besieged city of Mariupol.
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“The Russians completely destroyed Mariupol and burned it to ashes. At least tens of thousands of Mariupol citizens must have been killed,” he said, speaking by video link to South Korean lawmakers.
“But for Russia, Mariupol is just an example. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve seen a lot of destruction like this in the 20th century.”
Zelenskyy said South Korea could help his country's fight against Russia by providing military equipment from airplanes to tanks.
“If Ukraine receives such weapons, not only will they save the lives of ordinary people, but it will be a chance to save Ukraine,” he said.
South Korea has given Ukraine some one billion won ($800,000 USD) of non-lethal military equipment, such as bulletproof helmets and medical kit, Seoul’s defense ministry told AFP Monday.
But it turned down a recent Ukrainian request for anti-aircraft weaponry, saying that providing such weapons on the scale requested would impact South Korea's own “military readiness posture.”
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