Updated 22:33, 21. 4. 2022 21. 4. 2022, 20:50 According to him, the Russian political leadership made a catastrophic mistake when it invaded Ukraine. In a video address to members of the Portuguese parliament on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the country’s current destruction by Russian forces to World War II. The DPA informs about it. “The damage now being done in Ukraine is similar to that during World War II,” said Zelensky, whose 15-minute speech was broadcast on RTP. “We are fighting not only for our independence, but also for our survival,” he stressed. According to Zelenský, there is a parallel between Ukraine and Portugal’s return to democracy in 1974, when the so-called clove revolution. She ended the years of the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar and subsequently Marcel Caetan, almost without bloodshed. “The clove revolution that freed you from the dictatorship allows you to understand how we feel,” he said. Zelensky thanked Lisbon for its assistance and called for further support, in particular the supply of heavy weapons and the adoption of additional sanctions against Russia. Portuguese Parliament Speaker Augusto Santos Silva has pledged more support for Ukraine in the future. According to the Ukrainian president, more than 1,000 Ukrainian cities and towns have been occupied and destroyed since the beginning of the Russian invasion. “The occupiers only killed for fun, tortured, raped, killed people and shot at cars with children,” Zelensky said. “Millions of people have to flee – as if all Portuguese people have to leave their country,” Zelenskyj said. The DPA points out that 10.3 million people live in Portugal. According to the latest figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, some five million people have fled abroad and more than 7.7 million are internally displaced since the start of the war. Zelenskyj in the current situation ruled out a visit to Moscow for direct talks with Russian officials. TASR took over a report from Reuters, which it quoted from the Green Interview for the independent Russian medium Mediazona. “On behalf of my country, I would be ready to visit any place on this planet. But certainly not now, and certainly not Moscow. That is simply out of the question,” Zelenskyj said. “Nevertheless, under other circumstances and with a different leadership in Moscow, anything would be possible,” he added. The Ukrainian president said in an interview that the Russian political leadership had made a “catastrophic mistake” when it invaded his country, because it transferred responsibility for its actions to the Russian people. “From now on, many countries will no longer address the question of whether someone is a good or a bad Russian. All Russians will be treated badly. Russia has achieved this. In the end, it is not my business, but it should scare the Russian people,” Zelensky said. . According to the Ukrainian president, very few Russians have publicly opposed Russian aggression in Ukraine. “Currently, there is no indication that the Russian people have done anything. There are only a few Russian citizens who are clearly against the war,” Zelenskyj continued.