Ukraine’s first lady condemns Kremlin’s ‘mass murder’

KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian first lady thanks the country’s allies for their support and urged them to do more to deter Russia.

Olena Zelenska says in an open letter to global media released Tuesday that the Russian invasion amounted to “the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians.”

She says that “the most terrifying and devastating [result] of this invasion are the child casualties,” mentioning eight-year-old Alice who died on the streets of Okhtyrka while her grandfather tried to protect her and Polina from Kyiv, who died in the shelling with her parents. She also cites 14-year-old Arseniy was hit in the head by wreckage, and could not be saved because an ambulance could not get to him on time because of intense fires.

Zelenska adds that “this war is being waged against the civilian population, and not just through shelling,” citing the lack of basic medicines in the besieged Ukrainian cities.

She seconds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call on Western allies to help counter the Russian air superiority, saying “close the sky, and we will manage the war on the ground ourselves.”