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'Emotional moment': Ukraine parliamentarians sing national anthem at secret meet
Ukraine-Russia war: While it was risky to make 300 parliamentarians gather in Kyiv, parliamentarian Kira Rudik said the gathering was necessary as parliament is the symbol of Ukraine.
Around 300 members of the Ukrainian Parliament sang the national anthem together on Thursday as the parliament secretly met amid the ongoing shelling of Russian troops. The video of the secret meeting as well as the parliamentarians signing their national anthem together has emerged on Twitter, while most MPs continue to remain at undisclosed locations. As the MPs stood to sing the national anthem, some held their hands to their chest
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It was a quick and tense session, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vesylenko wrote posting the video on Twitter. "We sing the national anthem in unity as we begin our session in the most targeted building in all of Ukraine," the parliamentarian wrote.
Parliamentarian Kira Rudik said the meeting of the parliamentarians amid the raging war was risky. "While we understood that there were certain risks and the risks were high, we also understood that the parliament is a symbol of our nation. But if the nation is fighting and doing its duty, the parliament has to. So we gathered in secrecy. It was quite a special operation to gather the parliamentarians from the whole country. Around 300 of us were there in a single room," parliamentarian Kira Rudik said speaking to Fox news.
"We voted for immediate mobilisation, for nationalising Russian assets so that they can dispense on our Ukrainian army," Kira Rudik said.
"Then we sang our national anthem. It was very dramatic and emotional. I don't think I ever felt such unity with my fellow parliamentarians. And there was no more dramatic situation in Ukraine Parliament," Kira added.
Many parliamentarians could not be gathered as it was very difficult to move inside Kyiv and many parliamentarians are on the ground, fighting, Kira said.
