Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, challenged heads of state, chief executives and other global leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday to use their influence to help Ukraine, which has been battered by months of relentless Russian missile attacks.

Her speech at the forum was part of a concerted effort by Kyiv to promote its cause at the event as the war approaches its 12th month. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is due to address the forum on Wednesday. Zelenska invited participants at the forum, which began on Monday, to look around the hall and see that it was full of “people who have influence, for societies and for the world as a whole”.

“You are all united because you are really very influential,” she said. But she said that “not all of you are using this influence, or sometimes you are using it in a way that divides even more”. In her speech, she outlined a 10-point peace plan that had previously been announced by Zelensky in November.

The plan includes the complete withdrawal of Russian forces. Ukrainian leaders have brought their case for continued support to Switzerland. On the sidelines of the summit, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, told the news agency Reuters on Monday that Kyiv’s battered infrastructure, which has been hit consistently by Russian airstrikes, was strained and could collapse “at any second”.

Klitschko’s brother Wladimir, a fellow former heavyweight boxing champion who is also attending the summit, added that Ukraine’s allies should speed up deliveries of air defence system.

“It is important not to hesitate to give us weapons that we so need, but to deliver them the sooner the better — otherwise we will continue to lose our infrastructure and, most importantly, our best men,” he said, according to Reuters. Back in Ukraine, Zelensky said that the Davos event was a critical time for Ukrainian diplomacy.

“Ukraine will be heard at this globally important platform,” he said.