DUSSELDORF, Germany - Ukrainians living in Germany warned of the spillover of the Ukraine-Russia war to the West as Moscow invades Kyiv on Thursday, calling on the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to arm the Ukrainian army to defend themselves from the Russian aggression.
Wrapping a blue and yellow flag of Ukraine around her body, Kateryna Kravchenko, a Ukrainian national living in Germany told Rudaw's Alla Shally on Thursday that all they want is "arms" from the West.
"Our requests are clear. We want arms [to be] given to Ukraine," Kravchenko said. "We demand economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine. We want our sky protected. We want the United Nations to take an initiative to order an end to the war."
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military campaign against Ukraine early Thursday, saying Moscow would seek “demilitarisation and denazification” of Kyiv. There have been constant clashes between the armies of both countries since then.
Putin not only launched a military offensive against Ukraine but also vowed retaliation against any country that interfered.
The US and the EU have already started imposing sanctions on Russia which holds around five percent of the world’s oil reserves
Germany on Tuesday halted the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline project, Reuters reported. The gas pipeline was designed to double the flow of Russian gas to Germany and it is worth $11 billion.
Vien Adamskyi, Ukrainian national in Germany, told Rudaw on Thursday that they need to defend themselves.
"We need arms to protect ourselves. Of many Ukrainians, 49 percent of the Ukrainians are ready to defend themselves, numbering 20 million people. This is huge, because we are 40 million people. We do not have the necessary weapons to protect us. We need all kinds of weapons. We do not want to attack any side. The enemy is on our land. We want to defend ourselves,” he said.
"Our requests are clear. We want arms given to Ukraine. We demand economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine. We want our sky protected. We want the United Nations to take an initiative to order an end to the war," Kateryna Kravchenko, another Ukrainian national in Germany, said.
Thomas Kutschaty, leader of the Social Democratic Party in North Rhine-Westphalia, told Rudaw that "What is taking place in Ukraine is a violation of international law. Every country has the right to determine the geography of its state. It is nonsense to negotiate on the European borders. Therefore, it must become clear to all that the aggressor is Vladimir Putin. All we could do is call upon him to end this aggression immediately. As the European Union, we must be united to react with severe sanctions."
Yaromyr Bozhenko is another Ukrainian in Germany. He believes that even without arms Putin “has enough power to run over us and no one knows whether or not he will intend to move to the European Union and the NATO borders. With military support, we could stop him. We have fought off with our weapons. We have been able to reclaim control of territories that had fallen to them [Russian troops]."
Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
