President Zelensky Warns Russia Can Cause Starvation, Ukrainian Ministry Of Defense: Putin Achieves What Hitler Could Not

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an online speech. (Wikimedia Commons/President Of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - A Russian attack on Ukraine risks causing starvation in countries around the world, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Italy's Parliament on Tuesday, urging greater assistance to defeat the invaders.

In a speech to Western lawmakers via video link, President Zelensky said his people were holding out for survival, with the Russian military destroying Ukrainian cities and massacring civilians.

"For Russian troops, Ukraine is the gateway to Europe, where they want to break through. However, barbarism must not be tolerated," he said, adding that the consequences of war were already being felt in many parts of the world.

"The most dire thing is the imminent famine for some countries. Ukraine has always been one of the biggest food exporters, but how can we sow (crops) under Russian artillery fire?" he denounced.

Countries like Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen and others have relied on Ukrainian wheat in recent years, affected by the current war, causing wheat prices to skyrocket by 50 percent last month.

In last night's speech, he also drew attention to the death of 96-year-old Boris Romanchenko, who survived three Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War but was killed when his apartment block in besieged Kharkiv was shelled last week.

Regarding Romanchenko's death, "Putin managed to 'achieve' what even (Adofl) Hitler (Nazi leader) could not," the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said in a post on its Twitter account.

96-year-old Borys Romanchenko, who survived in Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, died from shelling in Kharkiv.

Putin managed to "accomplish" what even Hitler couldn't.#RussianWarCrimesinUA#stoprussia pic.twitter.com/67mfcot3Ah

— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 21, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the war, the biggest attack on a European country since World War Two, a special military operation to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the Nazis. The West calls it a false pretext for a war of unwarranted aggression.

Responding to President Zelensky's speech, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Ukraine had put up heroic resistance to the Russian invasion, pledging continued support for refugees fleeing fighting, as well as military assistance.

"The arrogance of the Russian government has collided with the dignity of the Ukrainian people, who have succeeded in curbing Moscow's expansionist goals and imposing heavy costs on the invading army," PM Draghi told parliament.

Indicating its desire to strengthen ties with the West, Ukraine has long said it wants to join the European Union.

PM Draghi told lawmakers it was a long process as many reforms were needed to fully integrate with the 27-nation bloc.

"I want to say to President Zelensky, that Italy is on the side of Ukraine in this process. Italy wants Ukraine in the European Union," said PM Draghi.

The nearly month-long invasion has forced more than 3.5 million people to flee, bringing Russia's unprecedented economic isolation, raising fears of a wider conflict in the West unthinkable for decades.

The United Nations human rights office in Geneva said on Tuesday it had recorded 953 civilian deaths and 1.557 injuries since the invasion. The Kremlin denies targeting civilians.