Do More to Help, Ukraine’s Defiant Zelenskiy Asks Britain

In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
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Do More to Help, Ukraine’s Defiant Zelenskiy Asks Britain

In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 6, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to Britain to do more to help his country fight Russia and to punish "the terrorist state" on Tuesday, striking a defiant tone that Ukraine would fight for its survival, no matter what the cost.

Addressing Britain's parliament and greeted by a standing ovation in a packed chamber of lawmakers, Zelenskiy documented the Russian invasion day by day, listing the weapons used, the civilians killed and those running out of food and water.

He thanked Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has sought to take a leading role in supporting Ukraine against Russia, for the help already offered, but said Britain and other Western countries had to go further, pressing on with more sanctions. He asked them to recognize Russia as a "terrorist state".

"The question for us now is to be or not to be," Zelenskiy told parliament via videolink.

"We will not give up and we will not lose. We will fight to the end at the 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."

"Please increase the pressure of sanctions against this country (Russia) and please recognize this country as a terrorist state, and please make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe... Please make sure that you do what needs to be done."

Zelenskiy has addressed his people and the world from Kyiv regularly since Russia invaded his country 12 days ago, in what President Vladimir Putin calls a "special military operation" to rid the country of leaders he characterizes as neo-Nazis.

The Ukrainian leader has kept up his appeals for the West to do more to help a country he says is not only fighting for its survival but also to save democracy across the whole of Europe.

Britain has become one of Ukraine's closest allies since the invasion, with Johnson speaking frequently to him by telephone and the two, according to some, enjoy a friendly relationship.



Evacuations and Call for Aid as Typhoon Usagi Approaches Philippines

A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
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Evacuations and Call for Aid as Typhoon Usagi Approaches Philippines

A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)
A villager on a wooden boat paddles on a flooded village caused by Typhoon Toraji in Tuguegarao city, Cagayan city, Philippines, 13 November 2024. (EPA)

The Philippines ordered evacuations Wednesday ahead of Typhoon Usagi's arrival, as the UN's disaster office sought $32.9 million in aid for the country after recent storms killed more than 150 people.

The national weather service said Usagi -- the archipelago's fifth major storm in three weeks -- would likely make landfall Thursday in Cagayan province on the northeast tip of main island Luzon.

Provincial civil defense chief Rueli Rapsing said mayors had been ordered to evacuate residents in vulnerable areas, by force if necessary, as the 120 kilometers (75 miles) an hour typhoon bears down on the country.

"Under (emergency protocols), all the mayors must implement the forced evacuation, especially for susceptible areas," he told AFP, adding as many as 40,000 people in the province lived in hazard-prone areas.

The area is set to be soaked in "intense to torrential" rain on Thursday and Friday, which can trigger floods and landslides with the ground still sodden from recent downpours, state weather forecaster Christopher Perez told reporters.

He urged residents of coastal areas to move inland due to the threat of storm surges and giant coastal waves up to three meters (nine feet) high, with shipping also facing the peril of 8–10-meter waves.

A sixth tropical storm, Man-yi, is expected to strengthen into a typhoon before hitting the center of the country as early as Friday, Perez said.

With more than 700,000 people forced out of their homes, the successive storms have taken a toll on the resources of both the government and local households, the UN said late Tuesday.

About 210,000 of those most affected by recent flooding need support for "critical lifesaving and protection efforts over the next three months", the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

"Typhoons are overlapping. As soon as communities attempt to recover from the shock, the next tropical storm is already hitting them again," UN Philippines Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez said.

"In this context, the response capacity gets exhausted and budgets depleted."

The initiative "will help us mobilize the capacities and resources of the humanitarian community to better support government institutions at national, regional and local levels," Gonzalez added.

More than 28,000 people displaced by recent storms are still living in evacuation centers operated by local governments, the country's civil defense office said in its latest tally.

Government crews were still working to restore downed power and communication lines and clearing debris from roads.

About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the archipelago nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people and keeping millions in enduring poverty.

A recent study showed that storms in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly and lasting longer over land due to climate change.