The fight for the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine will be “the major battle” of the war with Russia, Ukrainian lawmaker Kira Rudik told CNN Tuesday.
In a video address on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had commenced the battle for Donbas and that Ukrainian forces will continue to fight against a Russian incursion in the region.
“The result of it will impact what would happen to Mariupol, what would happen to Kyiv, what would happen to Lviv, to all the other cities of Ukraine,” said Rudik, a member of parliament in Ukraine and leader of the Golos Party. “This is why it is so important for us to get all the support right now we can and to get it now so we can stand up and we can actually win.” Rudik also echoed calls from Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials for military equipment to be sent to Ukraine to help repel Russian attacks.
In an interview with CNN last week, Zelensky said the weapons the US and other countries have provided to Ukraine to date, including the Biden administration’s new $800 million security assistance package, have helped his country resist Russia’s invasion.
But he said more would be needed, and that his country’s trainers would be able to get his forces up to speed quickly.
“This is a test for us — are we ready? Do we have enough weapons? Did all the weapons that we were promised arrive, or did they remain only promises?” Rudik said regarding the fight for Donbas. “At some point(s), we are getting enough, at other points we are not getting anything,” she added.
“Right now, rather than being upset with the ones who are not giving us what we asked (for), I would like to thank every single country that is supporting us and say: Give us more.
“You see how critical it is, you see that we are fighting not only for ourselves, but for the whole democratic world, for the whole of Europe.”