Ukraine's Defence Ministry releases CGI mock military attack on Paris in message to NATO

Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has released an edited video mocking up a military attack on Paris as it urges Western powers to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

The video uses CGI to depict the French capital under attack, with explosions near the Eiffel Tower and around the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has continually asked allies to impose a no-fly zone over the country to prevent Russian attacks from the air, but NATO member countries have ruled it out so far because they fear it could escalate the war.

The Ministry of Defence's 45-second video starts with a woman posing in front of the Eiffel Tower when there are two large explosions behind her. It quickly moves to depicting several other attacks on Paris, highlighting other well-known landmarks including the Sacré-Coeur basilica.

One part of the video appears to be filmed from inside an apartment as those inside watch the attack while air raid sirens blare and a baby cries. 

It goes on to show another explosion near the Eiffel Tower with thick smoke rising to the sky and fighter planes flying over the River Seine.

It ends with a message saying "just think if this were to happen in another European capital" and a quote from Zelensky.

"We will fight to the end," he says.

"Just give us a chance to live. Close the sky over Ukraine or give us air fighters. If we fall, you fall."

The Ministry of Defence tweeted "@NATO close the sky over Ukraine!" in the post sharing the video.

Since the video was posted to Twitter on Saturday evening, it has received more than 13,500 likes and viewed over 552,000 times.

Zelensky slammed NATO after it refused to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine on March 5.

NATO is worried that doing so would be engaging in direct confrontation with Russian forces - and Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that any such move would be seen "as participation in an armed conflict by that country".

But Zelensky says NATO's reasoning was the "self-hypnosis of those who are weak and under-confident inside". 

"All the people who will die starting from this day will also die because of you. Because of your weakness, because of your disunity," Zelensky said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier in March it would not impose a no-fly zone.

"The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes," Stoltenberg said.