: ‘I Want Ukraine to Exist.’ A Ukrainian Member of Parliament on Why the West Needs to Do More #WorldNEWS Inna Sovsun is an opposition member of the Ukrainian Parliament, in the liberal, pro-European

‘I Want Ukraine to Exist.’ A Ukrainian Member of Parliament on Why the West Needs to Do More #WorldNEWS
Inna Sovsun is an opposition member of the Ukrainian Parliament, in the liberal, pro-European Holos party. Faced with an existential threat, Ukraine’s government and its people are working together to repel the Russian invasion. They still need more help. She spoke to TIME’s Aryn Baker by video phone from a friend’s house in Kyiv. Her own home, on the top floor of an apartment block, no longer feels safe.
It has been relatively quiet here in Kyiv. But in other cities, its just terrible. Im looking at those pictures from Kharkhiv which has been turned into Aleppo. It was my native city. I went to school there. In Kyiv, we are hearing the air raid alerts now and then. Its scary. The idea that the Russians might enter on tanks at any time is hard to accept. This feeling of not being safe is exhausting.
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As a member of parliament, leaving would be the wrong signal, a recognition of defeat. But my son is 500 kilometers away, in western Ukraine with his dad, my ex-husband. My dad is somewhere in Kyiv in territorial defense, and we only have contact with him once in a few days—my mom is going crazy because of that. And my boyfriend is with the army, I dont even know which region. There is no good reason for me being so far away from my loved ones right now, but thats what it is.
There are roads leading [in and out of] Kyiv which are free of the Russian bastards. If they don’t encircle the city, then were fine. Kyiv will stand strong. If they do it will be much more complicated. Millions of people are still here. They are trying to defend the city and they will not leave. They are determined. Its not like Im fighting on the streets. Not yet. I hope it will not come to that. But it really depends on so many factors. If [the Russians] continue bombing our cities from the air, there is not really much we can do. We have seen what [the Russians] have done to towns around Kyiv. Irpin has been just bombarded. It doesnt exist anymore. That is why we need a no-fly zone. That is a matter of survival for us.
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We asked NATO to establish a no-fly zone, but NATO says it will cause a wider conflict. Well, it’s already happening. What the West needs to grasp is that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has gone completely crazy. He is nuts and he needs to be murdered. Someone should really be working on that.
As long as he stays president [of Russia], he is not just a danger to Ukraine. He already said that he doesnt like that Poland is in NATO. So lets imagine he takes Kyiv, he takes Ukraine, and his army is on the Polish border.