The first lady of Ukraine has requested more defensive weapons from the United States that can be used to prevent Russian air strikes that "kill children in their strollers" and that can protect Ukrainians from Russian "terrorist attacks."
Olena Zelenska, who is on a visit to Washington this week, spoke to members of Congress on July 20 at the U.S. Capitol, saying Ukraine was grateful for the military aid that the United States has sent thus far but now specifically needs air-defense systems.
"We want every father and every mother to be able to tell their children go to sleep peacefully. There will be no more air strikes," she said.
She said the weapons she is asking for were not the type used to wage war on another country's territory, "but to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home."
Members of Congress applauded her speech and said they were ready to authorize more aid. The United States has already provided $8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the war began.
Her description of "children killed in strollers" was a reference to a Russian air strike last week in the central city of Vinnytsya that killed 4-year-old Liza Dmytriyeva, whose body was found next to a stroller.
SEE ALSO: Liza: The Treasured Child Killed By A Russian MissileThe child, who had Down syndrome, had been seen playing in a video posted by her mother less than two hours before the attack.
She also described some of the other civilians killed, including elderly people who lived through World War II and the Holocaust only to be killed by Russian air strikes in 2022, and showed videos of children she said had been wounded or killed.
One featured a 3-year-old boy now in Germany learning how to use prosthetic limbs.
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"How many children like him are there in Ukraine? How many families like this may still be destroyed by war?"
While Ukraine is grateful for the military aid from Washington, she said, "Unfortunately, the war is not over" and she appealed for weapons on behalf of the Ukrainians who have been killed and maimed and on behalf of those who have survived.
Zelenska, who visited the White House on July 19, said that while U.S. lawmakers can look forward to normal schedules, she and other mothers in Ukraine wonder whether their children will return to school in the fall, while teachers wonder whether they should prepare for the classroom or bomb shelters.
"This normalcy is exactly what we are deprived of," Zelenska said.
Zelenska's husband, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said earlier this week that he expected "significant results" from his wife's meetings in Washington.
He said her address to members of Congress would be important, adding, "I strongly believe it will be heard by those people responsible for making decisions in the United States."
Her tasks include increasing U.S. support for Ukraine, obtaining additional support to "protect people from Russian terror," and boosting humanitarian assistance, Zelenskiy said.
In addition to her meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden at the White House, she also visited the State Department and met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.