Zelensky Defends His Dream of a Free Ukraine

Addressing Congress from the warfront on Wednesday, Ukraine’s President unleashed an eloquent call for aid. Will it work?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walks under a camouflage net in a trench as he visits the war-hit Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Dec. 6, 2021. Zelenskyy praised Ukraine’s soldiers on a visit to an area near the conflict zone to mark a military holiday. (Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via Flickr)

“Glory to heroes,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began his speech to Congress on Wednesday. “Thank you very much Madam Speaker, members of the Congress, ladies and gentlemen, Americans, friends.”

“I am proud to greet you from Ukraine, from our capital city of Kyiv, a city that is under missile and airstrikes from Russian troops every day,” Zelensky told U.S. lawmakers. “But it doesn’t give up, and we have not even thought about it for a second, just like many other cities and communities in our beautiful country, which found themselves in the worst war since World War II.”

“I have the honor to greet you on behalf of the Ukrainian people, a brave and freedom-loving people who, for eight years, have been resisting Russian aggression, those who give their best sons and daughters to stop this full-scale invasion,” Zelensky said. “Right now, the destiny of our country is being decided, the destiny of our people; whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy.”

“Russia has attacked not just us, not just our land, not just our cities,” Zelensky continued. “It went on a brutal offensive against our values, against our right to live freely in our own country, choosing our own future, against our desire for happiness, against our national dreams.

“Just like the same dreams you have, you Americans,” Zelensky gently reminded his audience of distinguished guests.

“Just like anyone else in the United States, I remember your national memorial in Rushmore, the faces of your prominent presidents, those who laid the foundation of the United States of America as is it today: Democracy, independence, freedom, and care for everyone, for every person, for everyone who works diligently, who lives honestly, who respects the law,” he said. “We in Ukraine want the same for our people, all that is a normal part of your own life.”

“Remember Pearl Harbor.”

In what the New York Times dismissed thusly as, “Zelensky invoked American traumas to bolster his case,” the Ukrainian president-turned-freedom-fighter had this to…