Taoiseach Micheál Martin has labelled Vladimir Putin an 'evil man' while speaking to Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show.
The leader of the country joined the fundraising episode on Friday night, with an audience full of Ukrainian nationals telling their stories about friends and family members fighting and fleeing the country after Russian attacks.
At one stage, the Taoiseach joined Ryan to speak about the Irish reaction to the invasion.
He said: "It has been a devastating week. I thank the people of Ukraine for standing up for the fundamental values that we all share. I think that Vladimir Putin wants to end democracy, he's afraid of it.
"This is a barbaric, brutal attack on the Ukrainian people because he doesn't want a democratic Ukraine. I salute the bravery of the last week.
"I don't think much of him. I get very angry when I think of him. The West was very naïve. I think he is anti-democratic. He's an evil man, dangerous and doing untold damage to people, and changing the rules-based order that we all adhere to."
The Taoiseach also praised the donations and efforts of the Irish people, and the EU as a whole, with over €1,000,000 being raised by Late Late Show viewers in the first hour of the show.
Mr Martin said: "The most immediate way we can help is through donations. This is the biggest migration crisis since WWII in Europe. The best we can do is to allocate cash to the Irish Red Cross. The Government have donated €20 million to organisations at the front line and to support others at the borders."
