LONDON — Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Ukrainian lawmakers on Tuesday that their heroic defense against Russia's invasion would rank as Ukraine's finest hour, invoking Winston Churchill's famous declaration about Britons as they faced the Nazi attack at the beginning of World War II.
In the first address of a foreign leader to Ukraine's Parliament, Mr. Johnson burnished his credentials as a stalwart supporter of Ukraine and a close ally of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. In tone and themes, Johnson's speech mirrored one that Mr. Zelensky gave to the British Parliament in March.
You have exploded the myth of Putin's invincibility and you have written one of the most glorious chapters in military history and in the life of your country, Mr. Johnson said, referring to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin. The so-called irresistible force of Putin's war machine has broken the immovable object of Ukrainian patriotism and love of country. This is Ukraine's finest hour, which will be remembered and recounted for generations to come, he said in a video address recorded from Downing Street that was broadcast in the Parliament's chamber.