Close the sky and we will manage the war against Russia, says Ukraine's First Lady in open letter

Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska warned that if Putin is not stopped, nobody will be safe.

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New Delhi: Days after NATO rejected Ukrainian calls to help it protect its skies from Russian missiles and warplanes, Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska on Wednesday (March 9, 2022) wrote an open letter and asked 'those in power' to close their skies.

In an emotional letter addressed to the media about the devastation and despair caused by the ongoing war, Olena warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin is not stopped, nobody will be safe. 

"If we don't stop Putin, who threatens to start a nuclear war, there will be no safe place in the world for any of us," she wrote.

"What happened just over a week ago was impossible to believe. Our country was peaceful; our cities, towns, and villages were full of life. On February 24th, we all woke up to the announcement of a Russian invasion. Tanks crossed the Ukrainian border, planes entered our airspace, missile launchers surrounded our cities.

"Despite assurances from Kremlin-backed propaganda outlets, who call this a "special operation" - it is, in fact, the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians," Olena Zelenska said.

She stated that this letter is her testimony from Ukraine.

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"Perhaps the most terrifying and devastating of this invasion are the child casualties... When Russia says that it is 'not waging war against civilians,' I call out the names of these murdered children first," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's wife wrote.

"Our women and children now live in bomb shelters and basements. You have most likely all seen these images from Kyiv and Kharkiv metro stations, where people lie on the floors with their children and pets – trapped beneath. These are just consequences of war for some, for Ukrainians it now a horrific reality," Zelenska wrote further.

She added that in some cities, families can't get out of the bomb shelters for several days in a row because of the 'indiscriminate and deliberate bombing and shelling of civilian infrastructure'.

Earlier on March 5, Putin had said that any country that sought to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be considered by Moscow to have entered the armed conflict.

Meanwhile, the fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces has entered its 13th day on Wednesday with the United Nations verifying over 1,300 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including more than 450 killed and around 850 injured so far. 

Nearly two weeks into the war, the number of refugees created by the biggest assault on a European country since World War II has now also surpassed 2 million.