The Ukrainian president claimed “everyone is at war” and must be “working for victory”
FILE PHOTO: People celebrate Halloween at a party in HVLV night club on October 29, 2022 in Kiev, Ukraine © Ed Ram / Getty Images
President Vladimir Zelensky has criticized Ukrainian civilians for not showing enough solidarity with the soldiers risking their lives at the frontlines, and insisted that people’s freedom and independence cannot be conquered by someone else.
“Ukraine is at war. And those who are not fighting on the frontline must help fight. Not in bars, not in clubs, not by street racing or some kind of ostentatious consumption, but by helping the warriors in a very specific way. To say the least of it,” Zelensky said on Monday in his nightly video address.
The president added that defeating Russia is a “common national cause” and Ukrainian fighters “deserve to see and feel” full support of rear cities.
“All the country’s adrenaline, all the country’s emotions, all the country’s strength should be there – in the battles for the sake of the state,” he stated.
Zelensky made his comments after having toured several military units posted on the Donetsk front, including the notorious Neo-Nazi ‘Azov’ and ‘Aidar’, to boost morale and discuss other “important topics” such as how commanders can better manage and “motivate” their personnel.
Earlier this month, Zelensky acknowledged “revolting” corruption uncovered by an audit of the country’s military recruitment centers. The probe discovered a large-scale conspiracy stretching from Kiev to 11 other regions, in which fraudulent medical exemption certificates were sold to Ukrainian men seeking to avoid conscription into the military.
Kiev has drafted several waves of recruits into the military since the conflict with Russia began in February 2022. In late June, with tens of thousands of troops being killed in a foundering counteroffensive against Russian forces, recruitment centers in some regions stopped sending individual summons and instead issued blanket orders for all men of military age to report for duty.
