several thousand Ukrainians gathered in Kiev on Saturday to show their unity in the face of the possibility of a russian invasionwhile the Ukrainian leader called on the population not to panic and opposed what he said was an avalanche of dire predictions of war.
Tension has risen as Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine and has held large-scale exercises. The United States said on Friday that an invasion could start at any time.
Russia denies planning an invasion.
The march went through the center of Kiev in a column, chanting “Glory to Ukraine” and carrying Ukrainian flags and banners reading “Ukrainians will resist” and “Invaders must die.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who attended police drills in the southern Kherson region, said a Russian attack could happen at any moment, but objected to what he called excessive reporting on a major war in budding.
“The best friend of our enemies is panic in our country. And all this information is just causing panic and can’t help us,” he said. “I can neither agree nor disagree with what has not happened yet. So far, there is no large-scale war in Ukraine.”
The United States and numerous Western governments have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine, and Washington said on Saturday it was ordering the departure of most of its embassy staff in Kiev.
“We have to be prepared every day. This didn’t start yesterday. It started in 2014, so we are prepared and that is why we are here,” Zelenskiy said in a reference to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for an anti-Kiev separatist insurgency in the east.
Source: Gestion
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