Ukraine was «reborn» as a new nation when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday, August 24, marking 31 years of his country’s independence with a vow to drive Russian forces out completely, as reported by news agency Reuters.
After days of warnings that Moscow could use the anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day to launch more missile attacks on major cities, Kyiv was unusually quiet and the second biggest city Kharkiv was under curfew after months of bombardment.
In an emotional speech to his compatriots, Zelenskiy said the attack had revived the nation’s spirit.
«A new nation appeared in the world on February 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget,» he said.
Speaking in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence, the president vowed to regain occupied areas of eastern Ukraine as well as the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
«What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory,» he said, days after his government laid out the hulks of burnt-out Russian tanks and armored vehicles in central Kyiv in a show of defiance.
Russia’s war effort in Ukraine has made little progress in recent months, after its troops were pushed back from Kyiv in the early weeks of the war.
Warnings of possible Russian provocations
On Tuesday evening, August 23, Zelenskiy warned of possible Russian provocations.
«We are fighting against the most terrible threat to our statehood and also at a time when we have achieved the greatest level of national unity,»Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine’s military urged people to take air raid warnings seriously and urged not to ignore air raid signals as Russia continues to carry out carry out air and missile attacks on civilian objects on the territory of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy told representatives of about 60 countries and international organizations attending a virtual summit on Crimea on Tuesday, August 23, that Ukraine would drive Russian forces out of the peninsula by any means necessary, without consulting other countries beforehand