Today, February 24, 2022, by order of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin the troops of the Russian Federation carried out an open act of armed aggression and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

They are bombing our cities, villages, airports, seaports — all of our land. They are attacking the Ukrainian Donbas, shelling Kharkiv, storming Odessa, killing our soldiers and innocent civilians -- children, the elderly, women and men. The very existence of Ukraine as an independent and democratic European state is threatened.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, speaking on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people, who for over a millennium since the times of Rus-Ukraine, has been living in its land, building its own state, developing democracy, having fought and survived numerous internal and external tyrannies, enemy invasions, conquests and occupations,

Declaring an unshakable will to hold human life as the highest value, live peacefully and freely, respect human rights and choose one's own path of development, allies and friends,

Announces that the Ukrainian State and the Ukrainian people have been subjected to the treacherous unprovoked external armed aggression by the Russian Federation, whose troops at 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022, without declaring war, launched a full-blown attack along the whole perimeter of the Ukrainian border, from the temporarily occupied Crimea and subjugated Belarus, including missile and bomb strikes on peaceful Ukraine and columns of Russian armored vehicles fighting their way into Ukraine from multiple directions,

Stresses that Russia's totalitarian regime leaves no room for compromise or diplomacy, as its goal is to subdue Ukraine to its will, destroy our thousand-year-old way of life, crush Ukrainian democracy, erase our culture and rewrite our history

and

States that the global security system has been completely and effectively destroyed.

In view of that, in accordance with the UN Charter, Ukraine immediately invokes the right to self-defense.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people are now forced to enter a defensive war in order to protect our own territory, the lives of our citizens and our civilizational choice.

Throughout modern history, Ukraine has made an undeniably notable contribution to the global security by voluntarily giving up the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal and strictly adhering to all non-proliferation and arms control regimes, while always being one of the most active member states in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations, defending Kuwait from the occupation of Saddam Hussein's, fighting international terrorism, piracy and other global challenges.

In these trying days, Ukraine is again defending not only itself, but the inalienable right of every nation to live freely and make its own choices. To that end, Ukraine now is paying enormous human and material sacrifices for restoring law, and not force, as the driving power of international relations.

That is why today Ukraine needs not just a rhetorical solidarity, but also a swift, firm and tangible support of the international community. Ukraine badly needs help with weapons and equipment, that would make it possible to level the advantage of the Russian Federation's troops in the air, at sea and in armored vehicles. Also, in this situation of a full-blown war, Ukraine also needs help to maintain the stability and stability of the economy and the financial sector.

We call on you to shake off all fear and hesitation and prevent Vladimir Putin's criminal plans to subjugate European and world democracies one by one, to destroy the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to trample on international law and peace.

Vladimir Putin's and the Kremlin clique’s war crimes must be punished and Russia must pay the highest price!

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appeals to the states — guarantors of independence, sovereignty and existing borders of Ukraine in accordance with the Memorandum on Security Guarantees in connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (Budapest Memorandum) to take immediate effective actions to stop the Russian Federation aggression against Ukraine, ensure the withdrawal of its troops and equipment from the territory of Ukraine and provide real help to Ukraine in restoring its sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.

We also call on the international community to:

1.Using NATO forces, deploy a no-fly zone over the territory of Ukraine to protect civilians from air and missile strikes;

2.Apply the harshest sanctions in order to deprive the RF militaristic machine of financial sources, namely, disconnect it from SWIFT, freeze financial and other transactions with the Russian Federation and all state entities of this state and impose sweeping strong sanctions against all Russian state banks;

3.Prohibit the transfer to Russia of any military and dual-use goods and technology. Suspend all types of military and military-technical cooperation with the Russian Federation, prohibit all seaport entry, activities and maintenance of naval vessels, as well as landing and airport maintenance of all military aircrafts of the RF Armed Forces;

4.Terminate all cooperation with the Russian Federation in the space, aviation, high-tech spheres, and instrument making, including a ban on any software transfer;

5.Prohibit insurance of all Russian air, sea, rail and road vehicles and passenger and freight transport;

6.Stop all modes of transport connection with Russia;

7.Reject or limit to the minimum oil and gas import and all energy supply from the Russian Federation; terminate the existence of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, as well as to stop the construction of ROSATOM nuclear power plants outside the Russian Federation;

8.Suspend any political dialogue with Vladimir Putin's regime until his unconditional agreement to cease all hostilities in Ukraine, withdraw all troops from Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and return to the negotiating table;

9.Apply the most severe and sweeping personal sanctions to Vladimir Putin’s immediate circle, the leadership and staff of all federal, regional and local authorities of the Russian Federation and government-controlled media propaganda outlets and all their families and associates.

10.Freeze all assets and accounts, confiscate property and cancel all visa, residence, immigrant, work, study and business authorizations of all persons directly or indirectly associated with them;

11. Stop visa issuance to all citizens of the Russian Federation, except for those persecuted by the regime.

Time for dialogue and unjustified hopes is over!

Now, at the pinnacle of this existential fight between Good and Evil, the world has to wake up to the fact that more than ever before, our lives and future depend on our solidarity, firmness and tangible commitment to common values, and that history will forever judge us not on our words and intentions, but on our actions at this pivotal moment.

Author: The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine