Australian premier warns citizens against joining Ukraine's 'informal militia'

By Islamuddin Sajid

ANKARA (AA) - Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday warned Australians against joining the "informal militia" in Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference in the capital Canberra after a National Security Committee of Cabinet meeting, Morrison said they discussed the Ukraine issue in detail and that his country will provide more funds to supply arms and humanitarian aid.

"In Ukraine, we have seen a multi-axis attack over the course of the last few days ... we believe there is no change in Russia's unlawful, violent and aggressive intent in Ukraine," he said.

In response to a question about whether some Australians intend to join Ukraine forces fighting Russia in response to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's appeal, the prime minister said he will not encourage anyone to do so.

"We would not advise people to go to Ukraine now," he said, adding that anyone who does will be on the receiving end of some “very violent attacks.”

"Those sort of disorganized civilian militias would effectively be putting people in the most extreme of situations," he added.

On Sunday, Zelenskyy in a statement called on all “citizens of the world” to come and fight alongside them against Russian forces.

Morrison also announced an additional 105 million Australian dollars (approximately $75 million) to support Ukraine forces and to provide humanitarian aid.

"We will be committing $50 million US dollars to support both lethal and non-lethal defensive support for Ukraine. The overwhelming majority of that, that’s some $70 million Australian dollars, will be in the lethal category. We're talking missiles, we're talking ammunition, we're talking supporting them in their defense of their own homeland in Ukraine, and we'll be doing that in partnership with NATO," he explained.

He also stated that 25 million US dollars will be provided in humanitarian assistance.

Morrison, however, refused to share more details about NATO's plan for providing arms after Moscow claimed that Ukraine's airspace is now under their control.

"I'm not going to go into the specifics of that because I don't plan to give the Russian Government a heads up about what's coming their way, but I can assure them it's coming your way."

The Russia-Ukraine war entered its sixth day on Tuesday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital, Kyiv.

The war has been met with outrage from the international community, with the European Union, UK, Japan, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

So far, at least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

Around 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.