Zelenskyy asks for heavy weapons in address to Portuguese parliament

Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Portugal to send more military aid Thursday and to defend an oil embargo against Russia at the European level.

“We need weapons to protect ourselves from the brutal Russian invasion, which brought to our people as much evil as the Nazi invasion did 80 years ago,” he said in an address to the Portuguese parliament. He specifically asked for leopard tanks, armored personnel carriers and Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

He also urged Portugal to fight Russian propaganda in countries where it has influence.

“You can tell the truth about this Russian invasion, about this war against the Ukrainian people, both in South America and in Africa,” said Zelenskyy after describing the horrors of the Russian military operation.

He said 500,000 Ukrainians have been abducted and Russian troops have taken their documents and communication devices and distributed Ukrainians to remote regions of Russia.

He said tens of thousands of Ukrainians died in Mariupol during Russia’s attacks but the massacre is being partially covered up with Russia’s use of “so-called mobile crematoria.”

“The occupiers drew conclusions from how the world reacted to the massacre in Bucha. And now the Russians are trying to hide the traces of war crimes,” he said.

Zelenskyy also warned that Russia will not stop at Ukraine and will try to attack other countries like Poland and the Baltic states.

Portuguese leaders did not make any announcements in the wake of the speech, but on Thursday the Spanish and Danish prime ministers committed to significantly increase military aid to Ukraine during an in-person meeting with Zelenskyy in Kyiv.