‘This is Ukraine’s finest hour, an epic chapter in its story’
Boris to invoke Churchill today as he becomes first world leader to address Kyiv parliament and says...
BORIS Johnson will today hail ukraine’s ‘finest hour’ in standing up to russia as he becomes the first world leader to address Kyiv’s parliament.
The Prime Minister will evoke sir Winston Churchill and salute the resistance of ukrainians in the face of the brutality of the russian invaders.
He will also announce a new £300million package of military support as he addresses the country’s politicians by video link.
His appearance comes after his surprise visit to the ukrainian capital last month.
Mr Johnson is expected to say the uK is ‘proud to be among ukraine’s friends’ after reopening the British embassy in Kyiv last week. In his address to ukraine’s parliament – the Verkhovna rada – the Prime Minister will echo the words of Churchill to the British people during the second World War.
ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky also invoked him when he spoke to the Westminster Parliament in March.
Mr Johnson is expected to say: ‘When my country faced the threat of invasion during the second World War, our Parliament, like yours, continued to meet throughout the conflict, and the British people showed such unity and resolve that we remember our time of greatest peril as our finest hour.
‘This is ukraine’s finest hour, an epic chapter in your national story that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.
‘Your children and grandchildren will say that ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free.’
Mr Johnson regards sir Winston as his political hero and wrote a biography of the wartime leader’s life called The Churchill factor.
The new military support will include electronic warfare and
‘Glory to Ukraine, glory to the UK’
GPS-JAMMING equipment, a counter-battery radar system and thousands of night vision devices. The package comes after ministers updated Parliament last week on plans to send sophisticated long-range Brimstone missiles and stormer air defence vehicles.
The uK will also supply heavy lift aerial drones to provide logistical support to ukrainian forces. Downing street said it would also send more than a dozen new specialised Toyota Land Cruisers to protect civilian officials in eastern ukraine and to evacuate civilians from frontline areas.
Mr Johnson visited Kyiv last month to meet Mr Zelensky after a pledge to give £100million worth of weapons to ukraine.
The country’s parliament praised the Prime Minister, declaring: ‘Be brave, like Boris. Be brave, like ukraine.’
The key ukrainian city of Odesa is planning to honour him by naming a street or square after him.
During Mr Zelensky’s address to the Commons in March, he told MPs: ‘I would like to remind you the words that the united Kingdom have already heard, which are important again. We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight until the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets.’
Thanking ‘civilised countries’ for their support, he said: ‘I’m very grateful to you Boris… Please make sure you do what needs to be done and what is stipulated by the greatness of your country. glory to ukraine and glory to the uK.’
Britain is at the forefront of the West’s response to russia’s invasion and has sent more than £450million in military aid to the ukrainian army, including thousands of missiles.
The British embassy in Kyiv recently reopened more than two months after it was moved due to fighting.
The us said yesterday it hoped its diplomats would be able to return ‘by the end of the month’, while sweden will reopen its embassy tomorrow.
Washington closed its embassy in Kyiv and moved its diplomats on february 14, ten days before Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
President Joe Biden proposed a $33billion (£26billion) aid package to ukraine after us House speaker Nancy Pelosi met Mr Zelensky on saturday.
russia is continuing its assault on the industrial Donbas region, attempting to advance in the south and east after failing to capture the capital.
Mr Zelensky has accused russia of trying to ‘empty’ the region of people, saying peace talks are in danger of collapsing.
The death toll of civilians in ukraine has exceeded 3,000 as of yesterday, according to the uN’s human rights office.
WHILE the Prime Minister’s enemies try to drag him down over Partygate, in Ukraine he’s hailed as a hero.
Invited to address the country’s parliament – the first world leader to do so since Europe was plunged into war – his words were stirring.
‘Ukrainians taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor counts for nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free.’
It’s a timely reminder that there is a big and dangerous world outside the selfabsorbed Westminster bubble. And an oppressed people yearning to breathe free.