While Russian forces rained fire down on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and other major cities, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to members of the U.S. Congress.

Zelenskyy invoked Pearl Harbor and 9/11, pleaded with America for more weapons and tougher sanctions against Russia, saying: "We need you right now."

Lawmakers, including members of the Massachusetts delegation, who were in attendance at an auditorium in the Capitol complex gave Zelenskyy a standing ovation as he appeared on the video screen.

Zelenskyy began in Ukrainian through an interpreter but then switched to English in a heartfelt appeal to help end the bloodshed.

"I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths," he said.

Rep. Bill Keating said "you could hear a pin drop" in the auditorium during the speech.

"I sat there thinking that this is a person that my last virtual conversation I had with him, he was detailing how he was a target of assassination," Keating said. "This is a leader whose country is just getting bombed for no reason at all."

Several members of Massachusetts' all-Democratic delegation shared comments after Zelenskyy's speech.

Sen. Ed Markey said the US "must open its doors to Ukrainian refugees."

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Rep. Katherine Clark, Assistant Speaker of the House, used her Tweet to praise the Ukrainian people.

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Keating said he did not support Ukraine's request for a no-fly zone but believed other weapons being provided by the US will provide better security.

"These are invaluable weapons we're giving them for what they're facing now. And I think they're going to be something that will be utilized well and the defense by the courageous military in Ukraine right now," he said.

"If there's a way we could to it effectively, without instituting World War III, I'd entertain it, but I just don't see it," Rep. Stephen Lynch said about the no-fly zone request.

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President Joe Biden has insisted there will be no U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine and has resisted Zelenskyy's relentless pleas for warplanes as too risky, potentially escalating into a direct confrontation with nuclear-armed Russia.

“Direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III,” Biden has said.

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