Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 20240704

Thank you for coming. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming to ukraine. I want to thank you and your friends. This is very important for us. It is very important that to ensure the victory of ukraine and you are all in unities unity to support ukraine. The United States is the leader. It is important. Everybodys social support is very important. We are very thankful and you are very welcome. Thank you. The biggest reason i came here is i wanted to see for myself because i would best enable me to go home and describe to the people in detail there are still millions of americans that still have ukrainian flags outside their homes hanging from the balcony. There will always be political arguments in america as you well know. There are political arguments. That means the support will be better. To be able to now say that i have been here, there was something they really touched the American People in a significant way. For better or worse, we have become a people. Reading something does not do it anymore for a lot of americans. They need to see it to understand it. I want to be there eyes here. You and your administration have been wonderful. We have been made to feel very welcome. I thank you for your approval of that. I look forward to the conversation. I am an advocate for there to be more needed to ukraine, broader aid to ukraine. I wanted to articulate that in a way that is consistent with your vision and helpful to your winning the war. Estimate you, thank you for welcoming. Appreciate it. Nice to meet you. [speaking another language] like the people supporting and helping. Quite how close are we to wear those photos were taken . Our job and our priority was to show the world. We were just trying to start looking around. This is the result of the air bomb. We have a lot of the destroyed buildings. This is all the support they can give. Quick thank you. We are trying to protect his village as part of the army. There were only like 20 of them. You could be presumed they left the region. There is Something Like that. What is this . Compared to the start, what is the spirit of the people here now as compared to they are billed strongly. We are just trying to stay still. This is the help that is coming in the different spheres. Military aid is very important for us to keep fighting. I am one of the main commanders of the group. Just and resetting all that. We are trying to support as much as possible. To pay the owner. The main idea of this plate is to leave everything the way it was. The russians tried to compare. Here is where we were sitting and trying to tackle the attack. Exactly this place. We are planning an army with international partners. It took us a long time. We are still in need of that. You know that ukraine is leading the world. How many minds just in this area . It is not about the mind. It is about the mind from the artillery. The rest of the territory support where the russians are. That has been the practice throughout ukraine where they have had control for a time. Yes, you can see everything is mine. It takes a long time. We will definitely go into those places. With the support of international partners. Close everything about it was just shaking and terrible. Close it was mostly aerial bombing . We had a good protection line. Close at that time, we didnt have that good aviation. Because of how this has been, it was not captured. A combination of professional soldiers. They joined forces. Hundreds of thousands of ukrainians. Some of them had no military experience. They were actually starting with the russians. Every civilian is part of the ukrainian army. So women understand where to hide. How young do you start . Since little children. On the side, there are two young females because of the children. They were part of the ukrainian army. They were the medical stuff. The word is taking the best people of ukraine. How frequently do people come here to pray and honor people . It depends. Most of the locals, people whose family members were killed here. It is really about the feelings they have inside. Because i want americans to see this. There was lots of discussion in our country about what to do. I think if the American People see the sacrifices you have made, it will allow us to continue to support all of you in the fight against the russians. They need to see it. Americans need to see everything to believe it. That is right. To see the level of sacrifice that has been made for them to understand why we need to be supportive. You have to tell the people of the usa and the list is that we need f16s right now. , keep saying it. Absolutely. In this area, how many homes, apartments were destroyed . 2800 apartments in total and 2000 were destroyed. If those people survive, where are they now . Most left the country. Those that were brave enough to stay, they are trying to help the military and make this end as fast as possible. They are fighting for all of us. Exactly. There are hundreds of millions of people in our country that support you. Thank you. Thank you. [speaking another language] [indiscernible] [speaking another language] killed by russian soldiers. [indiscernible] [speaking another language] the russians [indiscernible] [speaking another language] our aim now is to renew the destroyed houses in order to let the people who left to come back home. Where are those people, maam . [speaking another language] they are all over the world in more safe spaces. New zealand, the United States, poland. [speaking another language] we have 8000 people who relocated here in our region. [speaking another language] the mayor said they had lots of people relocated, that they said our city is not so big and now we have lots of people here and i understand. They also live in modular houses that were provided by poland, finland, let the loan you with the way the lithuania. What are these behind the trees . [speaking another language] this is for [indiscernible] all right. [speaking another language] now we will go to a temporary memorial for the people who are buried here. [speaking another language] looking in the church, you can see places where the church was destroyed by the russians. They destroyed other churches as well. You look at the churches. They are destroying into damaging everything, looting the icons, they dont really care about it. Yeah. [speaking another language] [indiscernible] ok. [speaking another language] [indiscernible] he said everything would be ok but the russians killed him. They raped his wife and did those things they do everywhere and the russians killed him and his family. [speaking another language] sure. [speaking another language] if you ask yourself, why would russians kill the civilians . [speaking another language] the answer is very clearly that in the past russians were never punished for their actions in different parts of the world. Now they need to be punished with all the world. [speaking another language] very important also is to have [indiscernible] [speaking another language] here we buried the people that were killed and it is important that 95 of people, they killed them in the head with a gun. How long did it take to drive the russians back out of here . [speaking another language] [speaking another language] from 18 april two the 23rd of april, all of the work that was made with our military made them leave the city because a lot of russian tanks were destroyed and they had to do this. [speaking another language] they said it was their own desire to do this but it was not just the desire, they had to do this. [speaking another language] russian soldiers said our mission here is to and die. [speaking another language] they understood how useless is the invasion. [speaking another language] and it is also important that after they did all they did here, how they killed the civilians, they dont get any punishment and their politics, put in in russia said it was good you had to do this. They received a special medal for everything they did. How is the resolve of the people here a year and a half after all of this . What is their attitude and resolve about the war . [speaking another language] [speaking another language] the war is the war between light and darkness and all the ukrainians want to get this victory. Its very important not only for ukraine but all the world and europe also. And for us it is important to not follow the scenario when the country was divided into two parts, it is important to liberate the other part of the country. First by military and the negotiations but we have to liberate all of the territories including crimea and eastern ukraine. Thats what people are saying all around ukraine. Yeah. [speaking another language] a few years ago i was able to speak with a person from vietnam. [speaking another language] the annexation of the territory is worse than just the war. The people from vietnam are ready to have normal relations with the usa and its not so much serious as when china got some parts, it is a much worse occupation. [speaking another language] you are absolutely right because we have the war in ukraine and not all the world understands what kind of war is it. [speaking another language] so each new visitor to our city helps us get this victory because it is an opportunity for the people around the world to see what is going on here. [speaking another language] when i ask about the victory, what does it look like, i always say it will be a common victory. [speaking another language] the ukrainian flag is the symbol of freedom. I understand the American Flag is the main symbol of freedom, but for this time, the ukrainian flag is also a symbol. It is the cause you fight for for your own freedom and liberty that we have and treasure and we want you to have as well, because you have earned it. [speaking another language] [speaking another language] its very important also to understand that freedom is not just because you get it, you need to fight for this. Democracy and freedom, it is things you need to fight for. Its a very difficult process but together with other partners we were able to do this. [speaking another language] [indiscernible] an opportunity to collect the bodies. They said its up to you if you want to take them from the street. [speaking another language] the russians divided bucha into two parts. They killed their people and killed them with a gun. [speaking another language] each man that the russians saw on the street, they asked them to take off their clothing, and only the men who stayed in basements stayed alive. Most of them were killed. [speaking another language] here in the photos, you can see the basement of a childrens camp where the russians used it to kill people. [speaking another language] each body had signs of torture. Torture . Yes. There were people who had no eyes or ears. [speaking another language] russians said all of the things that happened in bucha is not true but it is not a big city so everyone knows otherwise so we can make sure it is the truth. [speaking another language] a few weeks ago said true things happened in bucha and he honored the people who were killed. He said he would be dead on the of the people. [speaking another language] i invited him to bucha but i think we should send him the pictures. [speaking another language] [speaking another language] we have the photos but we can give them all the information so that the wives who lost husbands and children are now. [speaking another language] this coin was made from russian casings they left here, it is a symbol of our freedom. You can see here several symbols of bucha like the tree, the church and the bike. [speaking another language] yes, it was made from the casings. Thank you very much. Thank you. [indiscernible] what does it feel like . You feel the cruelty and you feel the inhumanity. You look at this and i dont think there is anyone in our country who would come here and see this and not feel as if these are the things that America Needs to stand up to to prevent, and to work with friends like the ukrainians, to give them the means necessary for them to be able to secure once again their liberty and freedom. I thought this is what i would see. [indiscernible] [indiscernible] what would you say . Thats why i came. Americans have become a particularly visual nation. Things are not as real to us if we dont get to see them. And by seeing them, we feel them. I am here because i want the American People to see the things i am seeing and i am confident that when they do, the resolve they already have and there are hundreds of millions of americans support our partnership with ukraine but their resolve will become even greater when they see this. [speaking another language] there have been 12 children brought back to ukraine who passed through the center and have been giving the support and have been provided temporary residence. He was forcibly displaced to russia, and we managed to get him back from russia and get him back to ukraine, so now he is 17 and extremely happy and was shocked by the conditions of war because he has adjusted to the curfews an invitation so it was difficult to adapt when he got back, so it helped him come and we tried to help him to find temporary residence for him and his family given that he was living there that is now occupied. That is the latest case. That is great. Really good. We have everybody . Can i ask you a question about your meeting with president zelenskyy . How did you find him . [indiscernible voices] , found the president i found the president to be forthright, honest about both the successes they have had in the challenges they are continuing to face. He was clear with me about how grateful he is to the American People for the assistance and support that they have already given to ukraine and there was a need for that to continue. He is absolutely resolved to win the war and represented to me that that is the opinion of the ukrainian people as well, so i found him to be exactly as i have seen him publicly on any number of times, which is articulate and smart and very very reasoned in terms of what he is trying to accomplish for his people. Reporter did he give you some details about the counteroffensive and how it is going . A little bit but nothing that im comfortable talking about. Reporter did you talk about some of your concerns about the divide within the republican party, about support for ukraine and was there anything that he shared in the meeting that will help you make the case to voters about why it is important to sustain the commitment . Chris i talked with him about in any free society, whether here, or hours in the u. S. , there will be extremist about the best policy to follow. I think you know his concerns about wanting to end the war as quickly as possible and that his request for more weaponry and different types of weaponry, like the f16s in particular, he explained were motivated by him wanting to end the war more quickly. Both for humanitarian reasons for his on people and for everyone else around the world to try to bring it to a resolution. I think it is everything i have seen here that helps me to be able to make the arguments that need to be made in the u. S. , and i dont think that i could understand it nearly as well. We talked about this, i forget what type that was, one night or two nights ago, that i suspected that if i saw this in person, it would arm me to be a better advocate for support and i think from the stuff that i saw today just now and the meeting with the president and his war cabinet, i think i am much better armed than i was when i came over. Reporter the donald trump come up in your meeting . Chris no. Reporter to follow up on that question, do you sense any concern, did you sense any concern from zelinskyy about whoever wins the republican nomination might shape this fight and the level of eight he might get . Chris no, he regularly spoke about his desire for there to be bipartisan support for ukraine, and that he was very complementary of President Biden and some of the things he has advocated for, but also made clear that he felt there was more that needed to be done, but there was no conversation at all from him about you know the race that i am in. He talked about america in general and the need for support for whoever, and in fact, he said whoever the next president is, i need to have that person feel a partnership with ukraine and he did not talk about either party in general but both. Reporter did he change anything about your position on ukraine . Chris it strengthened it. It strengthened it because his result is impressive, and the resolve and the candor of his work habit was impressive as well. They were not Holding Back Information are plain cute. When i asked questions, they answered them directly, so it made me more comfortable with him. And he raised, now im talking about president zelenskyy, he raised the issue of corruption in his continued effort to make sure that gets eliminated. I told him i thought that was an important factor in giving the American People the confidence that the support they are giving will be used appropriately. Reporter you talked earlier about the f16s, but after this visit, are there pieces of weaponry or other things that you now believe are necessary, that u. S. And the nato allies need to add to what they have already spent . Chris it has made it more acute. The artillery situation is significant because they were not using compatible artillery to western artillery, so we are kind of starting from scratch, and that they are being, you know, no pun intended, outgunned every day by a huge multiple in terms of the amount of artillery the russians are shooting at them versus the amount of artillery they can shoot back, so i see an urgent need for us to continue the Delivery Systems and the rounds that they need to shoot those artillery pieces, to help make it a successful fight in the counteroffensive for them. Anything else . Reporter did he give you a clear picture in the meeting today of what victory would look like here and how he would define that . Chris no. No, we did not get into that. I think we would all like to get closer to victory then we are before we define what victory really looks like, so what he made clear was that it was unacceptable to him that russia occupied so much ukrainian territory, and that his goal was to push them out of that territory, but it was not a definition of exactly what needed to be done for him to feel as if he was victorious, because i think we all know that they are not close to that yet, but as you saw from our visit, to think they were that close to kyiv that early on in this and now we can walk around without any worry for our safety shows you how capable the Ukrainian Military has proven to be, and i remember at the beginning of work people thought there would be a march to kyiv with no problem, and here we are just about a year and a half later in the war continues because of the resolve and the professionalism and the aptitude of Ukrainian Military. I am sure it is more of a focus than the endgame, because we both recognize the endgame will not be next week or two weeks from now but it can be a lot quicker if our support continues to be even more robust than it is right now. Reporter you talked about america needing to see and feel what happened here. What moved you the most today . What is the moment that really connected . Chris it is kind of hard. I thought it would be the church there for sure, but then i came here, and the idea that nearly 20,000 ukrainian children have been forcibly deported to russia and are being kept from their families intentionally innocence to enlist them in the cause for russia, and nearly the 500 have been murdered and that nearly 500 have been murdered,