Prisoners in Ukraine with combat experience will be released from jail to help defend the country against Russian forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced.
In a video address on Monday, Zelensky said that everyone who can “join the struggle against the invaders must do so” to help with the “struggle for our state.”
He added that the decision was “not easy from the moral point of view”, but it was justified from his war-torn country’s defence standpoint adding that the “key is now defense.”
Ukraine forces, backed by Western arms, have managed to slow the advance of the Russian army.
President Zelensky also appealed to the European Union to immediately allow Ukraine to join the bloc.
“We appeal to the European Union for the immediate accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure,” he said in the video address.
“Our goal is to be together with all Europeans and, most importantly, to be on an equal footing,” Zelensky added.
“I’m sure it’s fair. I’m sure it’s possible.”
