(16 Mar 2022) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4371178
At Streecha, a tiny New York City restaurant that offers Ukrainian comfort food, a small group of workers watched Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech to members of Congress live on a television set up on a corner table.
The canteen's manager, Dmytro Kovalenko, moved to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2014 after the Russian invasion of Crimea. He said he still believed his home country could win the war if America offered more help, like modern anti-aircraft weapons or imposing a no-fly zone.
"United States proved to be our friends and allies supporting us. I don't know as much as they can. Maybe they can do more. We will expect from them to do more. But at least you already proved you are our friends," said Kovalenko. "We all hope that this war is going to end soon and we just need a victory. We have to win this war."
Kovalenko and his co-workers watched with hopeful optimism.
"I think the main message was to the whole world... stand together against the aggressor, against the Russia and united we can win this war with support in anti-aircraft weapon or close the sky again," Kovalenko said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited Pearl Harbor and the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on Wednesday in appealing to the U.S. Congress to do more to help Ukraine's fight against Russia.
Lawmakers gave him a standing ovation before and after his speech. Zelenskyy showed a packed auditorium of U.S. lawmakers an emotional, graphic video of the destruction and devastation in his country has suffered in the war.
President Joe Biden has resisted Zelenskyy's requests to send warplanes to Ukraine, which would risk escalating the war with Russia.
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