Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the front lines in the Donbas Region on April 9, accompanied by a CNN news crew. While Russia says that the troop movements on its side of the border with Ukraine are not a threat to Ukraine, the regime in Kiev is convinced that a Russian invasion is imminent. “Of course. We know it, from 2014 we know it can be each day,” Zelensky told CNN. “They are ready, but we are also ready because we are on our land and our territory.” Lt. Gen. Ruslan Khomchak, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, claimed that an estimated 50,000 Russian troops have now gathered across the Russian border and in Crimea. In addition, there are at least 35,000 Russian-backed separatists in rebel-held areas of Ukraine, he said. More than 20 Ukrainian soldiers have been shot and killed by snipers already this year, CNN reports. CNN doesn’t report, however, that an official of the Donetsk breakaway republic reported as of April 9, some 20 members of the republic’s militia have been killed by Ukrainian troops along with 2 civilians, since the beginning of the year.
In his remarks to CNN, Zelensky complained that while the United States is a “good friend” of Ukraine, President Joe Biden “must do more” to deter Russia and help bring this conflict to an end. Not only does Ukraine need more weapons, but it must be brought into NATO, he argued. “If they [the U.S.] see Ukraine in NATO, they have to say it directly, and do it. Not words,” Zelensky said, obviously coveting that Article V commitment in the North Atlantic Treaty that labels an attack on one member of NATO as an attack on the entire alliance.
