President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the peoples of the Caucasus, Siberia and other indigenous peoples of the Russian Federation.
Zelensky recorded a video in the part of Kyiv where Imam Shamil, the hero of Dagestan and the whole Caucasus, lived in the 1860s.
The president drew attention to the fact that Ukraine was defending its independence because of Russia's attack, and the Kremlin was hiding the real losses of Russians at the front.
"As many as 58,500 Russian soldiers have already died in Ukraine. They came to kill us and died. You are not told this number. They lie to you when they say that about 6,000 allegedly died. 58,500! That's the truth. They all died because one person wanted this war. Only one man. And many people serve him," he said.
He stressed that the peoples of the Caucasus "have no reason to be among those many who still serve the one who wants this war".
"You must not die in Ukraine. Your sons must not die in Ukraine. You have no such duty. Neither to your parents, nor to your children, nor to your future, nor to the future of your land," the president emphasized.
He added that Russia remained isolated and the authorities were conducting mobilisation to replenish the losses.
"Put up resistance in order not to die! Defend your freedom now on the streets and squares so that you do not have to fight in the mountains and forests just for your right to live when the Russian authorities start the next waves of mobilisation. Did you believe that they will take only 300,000 people? The one who started this war will not stop with the first wave of mobilisation, there will be more. He will try to take other lives," Zelenskyy noted.
He added that thousands of bodies of dead Russian soldiers from different regions remain in Ukraine, while the Russian army burns the bodies of its dead.
"Dagestanis should not die in Ukraine. Chechens, Ingush, Ossetians, Circassians and any other people who found themselves under the Russian flag. In total, almost 200 different nations... You know who sends them to Ukraine. The one who sends them, he wants to turn them into 'cargo 200'. And do you want that? No? I am sure that you want to live. I am sure that you are tired of lies. I am sure you know that you must fight now!" he stressed.
Earlier, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy "tried to disrupt the mobilisation in Russia".