“We are capable of winning,” says Ukrainian parliamentarian

As the people of Ukraine continue to defend themselves against the Russian attack, Yevheniia Kravchuk, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, says the nation continues to seek three main things from the United States: heavy weapons, sanctions on Russia and financial aid.

“We need more weapons… Because right now the Russians are putting up artillery, tanks, everything they have, and also bombing civilians to terrorize the whole country,” Kravchuk told “This Week” co-host Martha Raddatz. . “As long as we get more than we burn every day, we are capable of winning and we are capable of driving the Russians out because that is the way to end this, to end this war.”

Last week, President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million to help Ukraine’s military efforts in the Donbas region and said he will send an additional budget request to Congress to continue supporting the nation. The new aid includes artillery weapons, anti-aircraft missiles and helicopters.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also announced Thursday that the department would provide an additional $500 million in financial aid.

Kravchuk, a member of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s party in the nation’s parliament, said it is important for the United States to provide the offensive weapons “because it is a kind of green light for other countries in Europe, for example, to provide these weapons as well.” “.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia had taken the eastern city of Mariupol, a claim the Ukrainians have rejected with 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers holed up in a steel plant as they continue to fight.

There have also been reports of 120,000 civilians still trapped in the besieged city.

Last week, only four buses and a few private vehicles were able to escape from the city, the first to leave in about two weeks.

“Is there any chance [a] humanitarian corridor at this point?” asked Raddatz.

“Yesterday, the Russians did not allow the humanitarian corridor to function,” Kravchuk said. “Hundreds of people gathered at one point to leave Mariupol and the Russian soldiers came and said no, we are not going to let this happen.”

She said Russian soldiers are making “forced deportations” from Ukraine to Vladivostok, a Russian city thousands of miles away.

“And we don’t know how to bring them back to Ukraine. They have taken these people out of Mariupol, they have put them in filtration camps,” Kravchuk said. “It’s something that can’t be happening in the 21st century. And we really hope that maybe with the help of other Western leaders, other leaders from similar worlds, we can get the children and women out that are still in the basements of this factory and inside Mariupol”.

Zelenskyy has announced that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will arrive in kyiv on Sunday to discuss the logistics of providing further military assistance. US officials have yet to confirm the visit.

Asked by Raddatz about the significance of that visit, Kravchuk called it “a very, very symbolic and powerful signal to Russia that Ukraine will not be left alone in this war.”