Address by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov to the international community

Today I appeal to the international community. First of all, I would like to thank our partners for their support. The whole of Europe understands that they are sending aid to Ukraine because hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians today, at the cost of their lives, the lives of their relatives and even children, are deterring the aggressor from invading other countries.

At the same time, NATO refuses to close the sky over Ukraine. The arguments about murders, targeted bombing and rocket attacks on residential buildings, hospitals, maternity hospitals and kindergartens, and the destruction of one of the European nations are not sufficient in 21st century. Fine.

Then all of those, who are now blocking the closure of the sky over Ukraine, should

recall April 1986. The Saturday night, April 26. Do you recall? That was the night when the disaster happened. The disaster that is considered to be the most massive in the history of nuclear energy, both in terms of the number of people killed and affected by its consequences, and in terms of economic damage. The radioactive cloud from the Chernobyl accident passed over the European part of then existing USSR, the largest part of Europe and the eastern part of the USA.

Today we are talking about Zaporizhzhia NPP. The LARGEST one in Europe. The consequences of the Chernobyl accident with only one power unit were catastrophic for the world. And now imagine what will happen if another Russian missile hits the Zaporizhzhya NPP, which has SIX power units.

Currently, the site of Zaporizhzhya NPP, as well as the Chernobyl NPP are under the control of the Russian armed forces. Targeting Energodar with its Zaporizhzhya NPP was not an accident. These are purposeful actions. Russia has committed an act of nuclear terrorism. We were miraculously lucky, as the fire was liquidated. But tomorrow may not be so lucky.

If the ZNPP explosion occurs, the consequences will be devastating not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world, as a nuclear disaster of this scale will surpass all previous accidents at nuclear power plants, including Chernobyl and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

So now there is a question: is the world ready for a catastrophe SIX times as massive as Chernobyl? Are all those who hesitate now, whether it is necessary to close the sky over Ukraine, ready to sacrifice the lives and health not only of Ukrainians, but also of their children? This is not about a war somewhere far away in Ukraine. It's about your safety. And about the nuclear danger to the whole world. So, consider the situation. Ask yourself a question: are you ready to just hope that the rocket will not hit the nuclear power plants, as they "do not accidentally hit" to homes and kindergartens. Preventive sanctions were not imposed. Everyone is now watching from a distance the consequences of these hesitations on TV.

You cannot observe a nuclear catastrophe from afar – it is not going to work out that way. Your arguments that the current refusal to implement A2/AD is related to the fact that NATO is trying to avoid the nuclear war is not convincing, since Russia has already started it. Historical lessons are severe and they must be taken into account.

Listen to your people.  Yesterday's Reuters / Ipsos poll made it clear that the outrage over Russia's invasion of Ukraine is growing.  About 74 percent of Americans, including the vast majority of Republicans and Democrats, said the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies should introduce a no-fly zone in Ukraine, the poll said.

If Eisenhower had supported Europe before the World War II, the United States would have never had Pearl Harbor. If the countries of the world imposed the same sanctions against Russia as today, a full-scale war would not have begun. Say the least of it, the only way for all of us to survive, and I mean the whole world, is the A2/AD zone.