Ukraine president pleads for worldwide show of support

Mr. Zelenskyy said he would speak to NATO members by video to ask the alliance to provide “effective and unrestricted” support to Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymr Zelenskyy called on people worldwide to gather in public on March 24 to show support for his embattled country on the one-month anniversary of the Russian invasion that he said breaks the heart of “every free person on the planet.”

Mr. Zelenskyy — whose video messages have repeatedly riveted the world’s attention — also said he would speak to NATO members by video to ask the alliance to provide “effective and unrestricted” support to Ukraine, including any weapons the country needs to fend off the Russian onslaught.

“Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in English during an emotional video address late Wednesday that was recorded in the dark near the presidential offices in Kyiv. “Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”

When Russia unleashed its invasion on February 24 in Europe’s biggest offensive since World War II, a swift toppling of Ukraine’s government seemed likely. But with Wednesday marking four full weeks of fighting, Moscow is bogged down in a grinding military campaign. NATO estimated that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of war in Ukraine, where fierce resistance has denied Moscow the lightning victory it sought.

By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan. A senior NATO military official said the alliance’s estimate was based on information from Ukrainian authorities, what Russia has released — intentionally or not — and intelligence gathered from open sources. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by NATO.

In its last update, Russia said on March 2 that nearly 500 soldiers had been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine has released little information about its own military losses and the West has not given an estimate, but Mr. Zelenskyy said nearly two weeks ago that about 1,300 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed. Ukraine also claims to have killed six Russian generals. Russia acknowledges just one dead general.

With its ground forces slowed or stopped by hit-and-run Ukrainian units armed with Western-supplied weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops are bombarding targets from afar, falling back on the tactics they used in reducing cities to rubble in Syria and Chechnya.