In Ukraine’s darkest hour, Parliament has witnessed a speech that Churchill would have been proud of.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address — beamed directly into the bearpit of the Commons chamber — was always going to be historic, with it being the first time a world leader has enjoyed such access to MPs.
One thing that was never a guarantee, however, was the quality and weight of the President’s words.
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MPs greeted the defiant Ukrainian leader — a former winner of the country’s Dancing with the Stars TV show — with a 30-second standing ovation.
Remember, applause is banned in Parliament, and exceptions can only be justified when history is being made within the Palace of Westminster’s walls.
The nature of today’s address explains the first standing ovation Mr Zelensky received — but the second one could only be a recognition of the quality of his words.
Speaking in a khaki green t-shirt from behind a desk in Kyiv, with only the Ukrainian flag as decoration, the emphasis was all on the man who was far from being the face many of us see on our screens every day just a month ago.
His notoriety is one driven by the most tragic of circumstances.
And that tragedy was spelled out in full this afternoon.
“We were awoken by cruise missiles at 1am,” Mr Zelensky told the chamber via a translator, explaining to MPs how the Russian invasion began 13 days ago.
“Since then, we have not been sleeping,” he continued, providing a day-by-day account of the horrors of war.
He added: “Over 50 children have been killed.
“These are the children that could have lived, but this war has taken them away from us.”
If this message — his heartbreaking report from a barbaric war — was not already powerful enough, the former actor had a final line up his sleeve.
In a not dissimilar fashion decades ago, when Britain faced its darkest hour, another leader told Parliament that his country would be fighting on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the fields and in the streets.
Churchill’s mantra is now firmly in the British psyche — and Zelensky’s own moment in the House of Commons showed echoes of him.
“We will not give up,” he began. “We will fight to the end at sea and in the air. We will continue fighting for our home whatever the cost.
“We will fight in the forests and hills and streets.”
To say the reception — another 30-second ovation from all in the room which the President greeted with a raised right fist — was deserved, is an understatement.
After that, it was British political leaders’ turn. And in turn, they repeated ‘slava ukraini’ — meaning ‘glory to Ukraine’.
Boris Johnson said the UK would do everything it could economically, humanitarianly, and diplomatically to ensure Putin’s mission ‘failed’.
He also said it was a ‘moment to put party political differences to one side’ — and that may be the only appropriate response to such a speech.
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