Chargé d’Affaires of the Ukrainian Embassy in Riyadh, Serhiy Pushkarsky warned on Sunday that Russia was gearing up to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his defense minister to be ready to fight with all kinds of strategic and nuclear weapons,” the diplomat told Asharq Al-Awsat.
“We call on the international community and our friends in the Arab region and other countries to expose the reality of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and we demand financial sanctions against the Russian Direct Investment Fund,” Pushkarsky said.
Amid the ongoing war, the Ukrainian diplomat stressed that his country needs, on a daily basis, additional assistance and weapons equipment, as well as medical, humanitarian and financial aid.
He said the Ukrainian government is working to provide the necessary supplies of food, medicine and other basic needs, such as fuel, to withstand a possible long war.
Pushkarsky uncovered that the Russian missile attacks on Ukraine raised the level of nuclear radiation in the Chernobyl region.
He said Moscow’s aggression is continuing in eastern, southern and northern Ukraine, with additional air and missile attacks launched from Belarus and others from the Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea regions.
Russia also launched more than 180 cruise missiles and other missiles at several Ukrainian locations and cities, Pushkarsky said.
At the diplomatic level, the diplomat acknowledged that his country is moving forward towards joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and also praised the European Parliament for supporting Ukraine’s request to join the EU, and thus its accession to the European Energy Network.
Pushkarsky accused Russia of seeking to change the legitimate government in Kyiv to a pro-Russian one.
He said the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has already announced his decision to open investigations into the situation in Ukraine as soon as possible, adding that since February 28, 352 people, including 16 children, have been killed in Ukraine and 1,684 others, including 116 children, have been injured.
“During the seven days of invasion, Russia has killed and injured civilians, destroyed houses, hospitals, kindergartens, orphanages and schools,” the Ukrainian official said.
More than 1.5 million people have been forced to flee the country.
