By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska issued a dire appeal Wednesday to US lawmakers, urging them to provide badly-needed military aid to defend against Russian attacks.
Addressing members of Congress in the Capitol Visitor Center's Congressional Auditorium, Zelenska chronicled a series of Russian strikes across Ukraine that killed and maimed civilians, including children and women, urging lawmakers to send additional weapons to help prevent future tragedies.
"I am asking for something I would never want to ask. I am asking for weapons, weapons that would not be used to wage a war on somebody else's land, but to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home," said the first lady, pointing specifically to air defense systems to intercept Russia rocket and missile strikes.
"While Russia kills, America saves," she added while showing lawmakers pictures of victims of Russian attacks.
Zelenska's address comes hours after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the US would be providing Kyiv with four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). The multiple rocket launcher systems have proven highly effective at allowing Ukraine to strike Russian infrastructure critical to the Kremlin's war, including ammunition depots and other supply lines.
With Wednesday's announcement, the number of HIMARS that have been provided to Ukrainereached 16.
Austin is expected to announce an additional military aid package later Wednesday when he briefs reporters alongside Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley.
More than 5,100 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February, according to UN figures.
At least 16 million people in Ukraine have also been forced to flee their homes, including 9.2 million that have fled to other countries.