A video that went viral online on Thursday allegedly showed a Ukrainian woman confronting a Russian soldier and telling him to put sunflower seeds in his pockets so that when he is killed in Ukraine flowers will grow where he ultimately dies.
“A transcript of the video, posted by Mashable editor Chris Taylor, outlines the conversation with a woman holding an umbrella engaged in a shouting match with what appears to be a Russian soldier,” Fox News reported. “The video has been viewed over 2 million times on Twitter.”
TRANSCRIPT (provided via Mashable):
WOMAN: Who are you?
SOLDIER: We have exercises here. Please go this way.
WOMAN: What kind of exercises? Are you Russian?
SOLDIER: Yes.
WOMAN: So what the f*** are you doing here?
SOLDIER: Right now, our discussion will lead to nothing.
WOMAN: You’re occupants, you’re fascists! What the f*** are you doing on our land with all these guns? Take these seeds and put them in your pockets, so at least sunflowers [Ukrainian national flower] will grow when you all lie down here.
SOLDIER: Right now, our discussion will lead nowhere. Let’s not escalate this situation. Please.
WOMAN: What situation? Guys, guys. Put the sunflower seeds in your pockets, please. You will lie down here with the seeds. You came to my land. Do you understand? You are occupiers. You are enemies.
SOLDIER: Yes.
WOMAN: And from this moment, you are cursed. I’m telling you.
SOLDIER: Now listen to me –
WOMAN: I’ve heard you.
SOLDIER: Let’s not escalate the situation. Please go this way.
WOMAN: How can it be further escalated? You f***ing came here uninvited. Pieces of s***.
WATCH:
Ukrainian woman confronts Russian soldiers in Henychesk, Kherson region. Asks them why they came to our land and urges to put sunflower seeds in their pockets [so that flowers would grow when they die on the Ukrainian land] pic.twitter.com/ztTx2qK7kB
— UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) February 24, 2022
Російські окупаційні війська зайшли в місто Геніческ.⁰Відео спілкування з російським загарбником розмістила на своїй сторінці в соцмережі ФБ місцева мешканка.⁰На відео російський військовий не відповідає на питання,яка мета його перебування в місті. ⁰Відео з’явилось о 13:28. pic.twitter.com/Lp95AJu1Tk
— НепоганаТетяна (@ian_tanya) February 24, 2022
During the early morning hours on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he would arm anyone who wanted to fight back against the Russians.
“We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities,” Zelensky said in a statement. “We will lift sanctions on all citizens of Ukraine who are ready to defend our country as part of territorial defense with weapons in hands.”
Russia pressed deep into Ukraine late on Thursday and into Friday morning as the fighting reached near the outskirts of the country’s capital city of Kyiv. Kyiv was the target of numerous missile attacks throughout the night — which saw a fighter explode in the sky after getting hit.
The Washington Post reported:
An air raid siren went off about 7 a.m. local time and at least one residential building in the capital caught fire after being hit by rocket debris, Kyiv’s mayor said. Multiple explosions were heard earlier in the day. Sirens were also heard in Lviv, in Ukraine’s far west and near NATO’s eastern flank. A senior Ukrainian defense official said Russian forces were near the town of Vorzel, some 20 miles to Kyiv’s northwest.
Biden administration officials told lawmakers late Thursday that they feared the capital would soon fall, with Russian mechanized forces — that had crossed over from Belarus — on its outskirts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that he remained in Kyiv, though enemy “sabotage groups” were in the capital.
“Ukrainian defense officials said Friday morning that multiple missile strikes had hit Kyiv, but the targets and the damage inflicted remained unclear,” The New York Times reported.
“They say that civilian objects are not a target for them,” Zelensky said in a televised address. “It is a lie, they do not distinguish in which areas to operate.”
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