Nearly 100 children have died in Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian president says

Nearly a hundred children have died in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Canadian lawmakers on Tuesday, adding that the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol was left without means of communication and was nearly running out of food and water.

“Currently we have 97 children that died during this war”, Zelenskiy said in a virtual address to Canadian lawmakers.

“They destroying everything: memorial complexes, schools, hospitals, housing complex. They already killed 97 Ukrainian children. We are not asking for much. We are asking for justice, for real support”, the Ukrainian president said.

Zelenskiy’s address began and ended with standing ovations from Canadian lawmakers. The Ukrainian president reiterated that Canada and other Western countries should impose more sanctions on Russia and do more to help Ukraine, including by imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

“How many cruise missiles have to fall on our cities?” Zelenskiy asked as he repeated his appeal for the no-fly zone.

Western countries have been swiftly moving to isolate Russia from world trade and the global financial system as a result of its invasion but the US government has ruled out a no-fly zonewhich it says would risk direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.

Mariupol was “left without heat or hydro, without means of communicating, almost without food, without water”, Zelenskiy added.

Zelenskiy has sought to drum up support for Ukraine with video briefings of foreign audiences that have included the European and British parliaments. He is also due to address the US Congress on Wednesday.

After his speech on Tuesday, Canadian lawmakers expressed bipartisan support for Ukraine.

Canadian party leaders also said they would welcome Ukrainian refugees. The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since Russia invaded on Feb 24 approached nearly three million, UN data showed on Tuesday, in what has become Europe’s fastest growing refugee crisis since World War Two.