In an historic address of both houses of the Oireachtas this morning (Wednesday, April 6), president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Russia is using “hunger as a weapon” in its sustained attack on his country.
The president addressed the joint sitting of the Dáil and Seanad via video link from Kyiv, and said that Russia is targetting infrastructure that is sustaining livelihoods for Ukrainian people.
“This night, our territory was again hit by Russian missiles. It hit civilian infrastructure; the new fuel storage depot was hit – used by Russia as a target,” he said.
“This is their attribute, they are destroying things that are sustaining livelihoods for people.
“They are hitting places where we store fuel; food-storage depots; agricultural equipment; and fields. They are putting mines into the fields.”
He explained that Ukraine’s sea ports have been blocked by Russian forces, as well as the vessels that already had agricultural cargos on board.
“Why are they doing this?” he said.
“For them, hunger is a weapon, a weapon against us ordinary people as an instrument of domination.
“Ukraine is a leading food-supplying country in the world. Without our exports, this is not just about the deficit and threat of hunger […] there will be a shortage of food, and prices will go up and this will be the reality for millions of people who are hungry. It will be more difficult for them to feed their families, especially in north Africa,” he said.
The president, who communicated through a translator, said that access to Ukraine was being blocked from “soil and sea” by Russian forces.
“They are not allowing humanitarian cargo, they are not allowing anything to come through, not water, nor medication,” he said.
Destruction and death
President Zelensky spoke of the destruction and death that has devastated Ukraine in the last seven weeks; the displacement of 10 million Ukrainians; the discovery of dead bodies – some buried and some just left in the streets; the bombing of homes and cities.
“It may seem that this is not possible, but these are real facts,” he said.
Russia, he said, considers itself a colonial empire that can subdue neighbouring people and destroy the foundations of their independence and identity.
“When we are hearing new rhetoric about the sanctions against Russia, I can’t tolerate any indecisiveness after everything that we have gone through, after everything that Russian troops have done.
“Today, even when the whole world knows about the crimes against our people, we have to still convince some European companies to abandon Russian markets; we still have to convince foreign politicians that we need to cut ties of Russian banks with the global financial system; we still have to convince Europe that Russian oil cannot feed Russian military machinery with new sources of funding.”
‘Thank you for supporting sanctions against Russia’
President Zelensky thanked Ireland for its actions so far.
“You did not doubt starting to help us, you began doing this right away and, although you are a neutral country, you have not remained neutral to the disaster and the mishaps that Russia has brought to Ukraine
“Thank you for supporting sanctions against Russia, and thank you for the humanitarian and financial support extended to our country, and thank you for caring about Ukrainian people who found shelter in your land.”
But he asked Ireland to show more leadership now and to ask EU partners to introduce more sanctions that will halt the Russian war machine.
Taoiseach, Mícheál Martin told President Zelensky that Ireland is with Ukraine and will continue to support its people, any avenue that may lead to a ceasefire.
Boyhan calls to increase agricultural exports to Ukraine
Following on from President Zelensky’s address, independent senator, Victor Boyhan, called for agricultural exports to Ukraine to be increased.
The senator who is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said:
“The Ukrainian president gave a very compelling speech in which he mentioned how hunger can be used as a weapon of domination.”
President Zelenskyy spoke of how the war also threatened countries in Asia and Africa that are now experiencing rising food prices following issues with Ukrainian agricultural exports caused by the invasion.
“The Taoiseach spoke about the aid we are providing to Ukraine. But we need to be doing more to help not just the Ukraine, but all countries affected by this war.
“We have the ability to provide agri-food aid to Ukraine and it’s neighbouring countries. Irish farmers are keen to rise to the challenge,” he said.