Zelensky to drafted Russians: Protest, fight back or surrender to Ukrainian captivity
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the Russians who are subject to mobilization and gave them the options "in order to survive."
"I will explain to the Russians in Russian what is happening. 55,000 Russian soldiers died in this war in six months. Tens of thousands are wounded and maimed. Want more? No? Then protest. Fight. Run. Or surrender to Ukrainian captivity. These are the options for you to survive," said Zelensky.
The Ukrainian President noted that in many Russian cities there were protests against the mobilization, "even if not massive": "We see that people in Dagestan, in Buryatia, in other national republics and regions of Russia understand that they were simply abandoned. They are thrown to die." Zelensky added that one person in Russia made this decision for all citizens. But, according to him, Russians are accomplices in all these crimes, murders, and torture of Ukrainians, because "they have been silent and are silent now. “Now it's time for Russians to choose, the President of Ukraine believes.
Zelensky called Putin's decision to carry out mobilization a recognition that Russia's cadre army, which "has been preparing for decades to seize someone else's territory," could not fight and crumbled. According to him, now the war for most Russian citizens is not a program on television or on the Internet, but something that has entered every home. Zelensky stressed that the leadership of the Russian Federation reacts to the Ukrainian strength: it changes tactics and tries to involve even more Russian citizens and resources in the war.
"For Russian men, it is a choice: to die or live, to become a cripple – or to maintain health. For Russian women, this is a choice: to lose their husbands, sons, grandchildren forever – or still try to protect them from death, from war, from one person. "
There will be no changes at the front due to Russian mobilization, there will just be "more corpses," retired SBU Major General Viktor Yagun and military expert Sergei Grabsky told the news website The Insider. Now, according to experts, Ukraine will have grounds to demand from Western countries the introduction of new sanctions against Russia. It will be a huge problem for the Russian economy as well, as the country would have to provide for hundreds of thousands of troops.