5 people were killed in an airstrike aimed at Kyiv's main television tower in Babi Yar district. AFP
As Russian forces pounded major Ukrainian cities with shelling and missiles, President Volodymyr Zelinsky drew a World War-II parallel and chided global powers for staying "silent" over Moscow's invasion.
The Ukrainian President, who has emerged as a formidable leader for his spirited defiance in the face of the Russian's offensive, took to Twitter after five people were killed in an airstrike aimed at Kyiv's main television tower in Babi Yar district. The strike knocked out some broadcasts but left the structure intact, news agency AFP reported.
"To the world: what is the point of saying never again for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. History repeating," Zelinsky, who has emerged as a formidable leader for his spirited defiance in the face of the Russian's offensive, tweeted yesterday.
"Never again" is a slogan associated with the Holocaust of the jews in Nazi Germany. The phrase also appears on Holocaust memorial such as the Dachau concentration camp. Over time, the phrase has been used to condemn and mourn terrorist attacks and genocides across the world.
The Ukrainian's president remark is a swipe at global powers that have pledged over decades to not let the horrors of Nazi Germany be repeated but have stayed silent on Russia's ongoing military operation.
President Zelensky said Russia wants to erase Ukraine and its history and urged Jews to not stay silent on the invasion. "I am now addressing all the Jews of the world. Don't you see what is happening? That is why it is very important that millions of Jews around the world not remain silent right now," he said. "Nazism is born in silence. So shout about killings of civilians. Shout about the murders of Ukrainians."
The reference to Babyn Yar is also significant: the ravine currently in Kyiv district was the site of massacres of jews during the Holocaust. Babyn Yar was the spot where over 33,000 jews were shot dead in September 1941 - this is among the largest mass killing incidents under the Nazi regime.
In later years, the ravine witnessed massacres of prisoners of war of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian nationalists.
After failing to seize control in any major Ukrainian city six days after it invaded the country, Russia has started targeting civilian and administrative buildings now.
President Zelinsky has urged the US to take immediate steps to stop the "aggressor" and sought membership of the European Union.
In retaliation to the invasion, the US and European nations have imposed severe sanctions against Russia. The country, besides facing diplomatic isolation, is also facing boycotts in the spheres of sports and cinema.