Latest Zelenskyy address from last night. It's powerful, and it should be devastating for some in West to hear. In it, he switches between Ukrainian and Russian to deliver a message in response to the war crimes in Bucha. What follows is graphic. Here are main points...
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“Today’s address will begin without greetings,” Zelenskyy begins in Ukrainian. “I don't want to use extra words. Presidents don’t normally record addresses like this. But today I must, after what was revealed in Bucha and in our other cities the occupiers were pushed out of." 2/

In Bucha, Zelenskyy says, Ukrainian forces retaking the city found "Hundreds of dead people. Peaceful people tortured, and shot dead. Dead bodies on the streets. Mined land. Even the bodies of those who were killed were mined. Everywhere, the consequences of looting." 3/

"On our land, there has been concentrated evil. Murderers. Tortures. Rapists. Looters. Those who call themselves an army. And who deserve only death for their actions." 4/

Zelenskyy switches to Russian: “I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of those who have been killed in Bucha, in Irpin, in Hostomel. What did they do? Why were they murdered?" 5/

He continues address to mothers of Russian soldiers: "What did the man riding his bike on the road do? Why were ordinary citizens questioned and tortured to death in an ordinary peaceful city? Why were women strangled after their earrings were ripped out of their ears?" 6/

"How could women be raped and murdered in front of their children? Their bodies tortured even after their deaths?" Zelenskyy asks Russian mothers. "Why did tanks crush the corpses of people? What did the Ukrainian city of Bucha do to your Russia? How did this become possible?" 7/

"Russian mothers, even if you raised looters, how did they also become butchers? You couldn’t not have known what was inside your children. You couldn’t not have noticed they’re missing humanity. No soul. No heart. They killed deliberately, and with pleasure," Zelensky says 8/

Zelenskyy then addresses Russian leadership. "I want all the leaders of the Russian Federation to see how their orders are being carried out. These orders. This fulfillment." 9/

"They should have joint responsibility for these murders; for this torture; for these people's arms that have been torn off by explosions, which lie in the streets; for these gunshots into the backs of the head of people who have been tied up," Zelenskyy says. 10/

"This is how the Russian state will now be perceived. This is your image. Your culture and human image have died along with Ukrainians," says Zelenskyy to the Kremlin. 11/

Zelenskyy goes back to Ukrainian. Says he has approved the creation of a new “special mechanism of justice in Ukraine to investigate every crime of the occupiers on the territory of our country.” Calls on everyone around world to help gather evidence of war crimes. 12/

"The world has already seen many war crimes, at different times, on different continents. It is time to do everything possible to make the war crimes of the Russian forces the last manifestation of such evil on Earth,” Zelenskyy says. 13/

Now, Zelenskyy addresses the Ukrainian people, with a chilling warning. Says he needs them to know that while the Russians have been pushed out of several Ukrainian cities, other areas are still occupied. 14/

“After the expulsion of the occupiers, even worse things could be found there. Even more death and torture. This is the nature of the Russian forces who came onto our land. These are the bastards who don’t know how to do anything differently. And these were their orders. 15/

Zelenskyy says UN Security Council will on Tuesday consider the war crimes in Bucha and other cities, and says there will be a new sanctions package proposed against Russia. “But I’m sure that’s not enough,” Zelenskyy says. 16/

Zelenskyy takes implicit aim at Western leaders who have enabled Putin’s war by appeasing him over the years. “More conclusions must be made,” Zelenskyy says, “not just about Russia, but also about the political behavior that actually allowed this evil to come onto our land.” 17/

Zelenskyy notes it is the 14th anniversary of NATO’s Bucharest summit. He is referring to the NATO summit in 2008 when Allies were to decide whether to provide Georgia and Ukraine with a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) – a status that puts countries on road to joining. 18/

Spoiler alert: Ukraine and Georgia didn’t get MAP status, though Albania and Croatia did. NATO made some encouraging statements, saying “We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO,” but declined to make it official with MAP status. 19/

The countries that reportedly blocked MAP status for Ukraine were Germany (under Angela Merkel) and France (under Nicolas Sarkozy). Here's report from then: https://t.co/ipw5gsMxZy and here are the summit declarations: https://t.co/wRQGzvmgvI 20/

“Then, there was a chance to take Ukraine out of the ‘gray zone’ in Eastern Europe," Zelenskyy says of 2008 summit. "The gray zone between NATO and Russia. Out of the gray zone in which Moscow thinks they are allowed to do anything it wants. Even the most horrific war crimes." 21

"Hidden behind optimistic diplomatic statements that Ukraine could become a member of NATO, there was in 2008 a refusal to accept Ukraine into the Alliance," Zelenskyy says. “The absurd fear of some politicians of Russia was hidden." 22/

"They thought that by refusing Ukraine, they could appease Russia, to convince it to respect Ukraine and live normally alongside us," Zelenskyy says of countries that blocked MAP status for Ukraine. 23/

“During the 14 years since that miscalculation, Ukraine has lived through a revolution, and 8 years of war in Donbas. And now we’re fighting for our lives in the most horrific war in Europe since World War 2,” Zelenskyy says. 24/

Now, Zelenskyy names names. “I invite Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy to visit Bucha, to see what the policy of 14 years of concessions to Russia has led to,” Zelenskyy says. Adds that he wants Merkel and Sarkozy “to see with their own eyes the tortured Ukrainian men and women.” 25/

Next, Zelenskyy softens his rebuke of the West. “I want to be understood accurately,” he says. “We do not blame the West. We do not blame anyone except the specific Russian forces who did this to our people. And those who gave them orders.” 26/

But he adds that “Ukraine has a right to talk about indecision, about the path to Bucha, to Hostomel, to Kharkiv, to Mariupol." As for Ukraine? "We have no indecision. No matter whether we are in a certain bloc or non-aligned. We understand one thing: We must be strong.” 27/

“14 years ago, Russia’s leader told Western leaders in Bucharest that there was no such country as Ukraine,” Zelenskyy says, referring to reports Putin told Bush during NATO's Bucharest summit that “Ukraine is not even a real nation-state.” 28/ (https://t.co/HUnx6XvQAS)

"We are proving that there is such a country," Zelenskyy says. Ukraine "was and it will be. We won't hide behind the strong in this world. We won’t beg anyone. Honestly, we shouldn’t have had to ask for help. The weapons should have been given to us, without having to ask. 29/

Zelenskyy says Ukraine has standards, unlike Russians. “There are the standards of the Ukrainian people, and there are the standards of the Russian occupiers. There is good and evil. There is Europe, and there is a black hole that wants to tear everything apart and absorb it." 30

"We will win this war, even if politicians are still unable to overcome the indecision they pass on to their successors,” Zelenskyy says, in a dig at the current leaders of the West. 31/

Zelenskyy says services are being restored in Bucha, seeking to return it to normal life and rebuild it. “Because Russia has been expelled, and Ukraine is returning, and returning life.” He concludes with this: “Evil will be punished. Glory to Ukraine.” 32/32

You can watch with English subtitles here: https://t.co/4hiu147V9m