Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen on a screen as he remotely addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City on September 21, 202
2. In a videotaped address Wednesday to the United Nations General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world to punish Russia's government for the war it launched against Ukraine earlier this year.
"Ukraine demands punishment for trying to steal our territory, punishment for the murders of thousands of people, punishment for the tortures and humiliations of women and men, punishment for the catastrophic turbulence Russia provoked with its illegal war — and not only for us Ukrainians, but for the whole world," Zelensky said.
Russia should also be stripped at the U.N. of its right to vote or issue vetos as a permanent member of the Security Council, Zelensky said. He also took aim at some Russian citizens, like those who have continued to vacation in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as the war rages on just miles away.
"The bodies of women and men, children and adults, civilians and soldiers were found there — 445 graves," Zelensky said before recounting how a male victim was found to have been castrated prior to being killed. "For us, this is war for life. That is why we need defense support," Zelensky said."Weapons, military equipment and shells. Offensive weapons, and long-range ones, is enough to liberate our land. And defensive systems, above all air defense, and we need financial support to keep internal stability and fulfill social obligations to our people."of 300,000 reservists to the military in order to try to stem recent military setbacks in Ukraine. He also accused the U.S.