Zelensky addresses Russians when Sweden says that its airspace is violated
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky switched to Russian in his nightly video to urge Russian soldiers not to fight in Ukraine, saying that even their generals expected thousands of them to die.
He said Russia had recruited new troops “with little motivation and little combat experience” for the units that were destroyed during the first weeks of the war so that these units could be thrown back into battle.
He said Russian commanders fully understand that thousands of them will die and thousands more will be injured in the coming weeks.
“The Russian commanders lie to their soldiers when they tell them that they can expect to be seriously responsible for refusing to fight and then also not tell them, for example, that the Russian army is preparing additional refrigerated trucks for storing the bodies,” he said. Zelensky late on Saturday.
“They are not telling them about the new losses that the generals are expecting. Every Russian soldier can still save his own life. It is better for you to survive in Russia than to perish in our country.”
It comes as Sweden said that a Russian military plane violated Swedish airspace. The incident occurred late on Friday in the Baltic Sea near the island of Bornholm.
In a statement on Saturday, the Armed Forces said that a Russian AN-30 propeller plane flew towards Swedish airspace and entered it shortly before leaving the area.
The Swedish Air Force distorted fighter jets that photographed the Russian plane.
Sweden’s Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist told Swedish Radio that the violation was “unacceptable” and “unprofessional”.
In a similar incident in early March, four Russian fighter jets violated Swedish airspace over the Baltic Sea.
Sweden and neighboring Finland are both considering NATO membership following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has warned that such a move would have consequences, without giving any details.