Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation on Tuesday from the Canadian Parliament during his address to the parliament.
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau who spoke after Zelensky’s connected via a videolink hailed the Ukrainian President as “Champion of Democracy” and “hero” whom he has long admired.
Watch the video below.
However, in his address to the Canadian parliament, Zelensky doubled down on his plea for a no-fly zone, asking lawmakers to imagine their own cities being bombed at an appalling human cost.
In the video address, the Ukrainian leader accused Russia’s military of “destroying everything: memorial complexes, schools, hospitals, housing complexes.”
“They’ve already killed 97 Ukrainian children,” Zelensky said.
“We’re not asking for much. We’re asking for justice, for real support, which will help us to prevail, to defend (ourselves), to save lives,” he said, receiving a standing ovation from the lawmakers.
“Can you imagine when you call your friends and you ask to please close the sky, close the air space, please stop the bombing?… And they (simply) express their deep concerns about the situation,” he lamented. “How many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen?”
Zelensky asked rhetorically how Canadians would react if Russia laid siege to Vancouver, bombed the Ottawa airport or targeted the CN Tower in Toronto, while listing off historic sites in Ukraine that have come under bombardment.
“I know that you all support Ukraine,” Zelensky said to MPs, “but I would like you to understand, to feel what we feel every day.”
“Imagine that Canadian facilities have been bombed similarly as our buildings and memorial places are being bombed,” he said. “A number of families have died. Every night is a horrible night.”
