Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko told Euronews the civilian death toll is likely to be much higher as she accused Russian troops of using weapons “forbidden by the Geneva Conventions.”
More than 2,000 civilians have now lost their lives across Ukraine a week into the Russian invasion of the country, according to the country’s emergency services.
But Vasylenko told Euronews that this is only a “preliminary” number “because still many people are trapped under the rubble of the buildings, which are shattered by Russian missiles and Russian bombs.”
“Just a few days ago, they used weapons forbidden by the Geneva Conventions. They used vacuum bombs which suck the air out of people’s lungs. Both of these weapons are designed to cause extreme suffering to human beings,” she said.
She called on the international community “to step up immediately” with a no-fly zone over Ukraine and a green corridor for humanitarian purposes.
“What is happening now is the extermination of a whole country right in the middle of Europe, of the people 44 million strong. And this is done by one man and one man only, but he must be stopped. Sanctions are good and we are very grateful for those. But physically here on the ground, we need the allied powers to fight with us in the air, on the seas and on the ground,” she said.
She also revealed how the war is impacting her and her family and how she was parted from her children.
“The most difficult point in these seven days was yesterday, when I realised that I don’t know the exact date when I will be seeing them, although I told them that is going to be sort of like when they go off on holiday without me or when mommy goes on a business trip. But the big difference was that is that holidays and business trips, they have a definite date when you come back and when you are reunited. This particular case doesn’t have an end date,” she said.