‘We are defending our state alone’: Ukraine's president

By Talha Yavuz and Iclal Turan

KYIV, Ukraine / ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said they were defending their state alone.

"This morning we are defending our state alone,” Zelenskyy said, while addressing the nation in a video message posted on his Facebook account.

“The world's most powerful forces are watching from afar,” he said.

“Did yesterday's sanctions convince Russia? We hear in our sky and see on our earth that this was not enough,” he continued, adding that the attack reminded him of the 1941 shelling in Kyiv by Nazi Germany.

The Ukrainian president stressed Russian military forces were targeting both the military and the civilians.

“They say that civilian targets are not a target for them, but it is a lie. In fact, they do not distinguish in which areas to operate,” he continued.

On the Russians protesting against Russia’s military attack on Ukraine, Zelenskyy said: “I want to tell all Russian citizens who are coming out to protest: we hear you, you heard us, you started to believe us. Fight for us. Fight the war."

In a Friday morning tweet, Zelenskyy said they need “effective international assistance” to defend "our freedom, our land."

Noting that he discussed the issue with Polish President Andrzej Duda, he said: “Appealed to the Bucharest Nine for defense aid, sanctions, pressure on the aggressor. Together we have to put Russia at the negotiating table. We need anti-war coalition.”

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed that Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military intervention in Ukraine on Thursday.​​​​​​​