In addition, the Ukrainian president spoke on February 24, on the occasion of this anniversary date. He hopes for a “victory” in 2023.
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© NICOLAS ECONOMOU / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP
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Kiev does not let go. Ukraine is preparing a counter-offensive against the Russian army, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov announced on Friday February 24, the first anniversary of the invasion of Moscow. “We will strike harder and from greater distances, in the air, on land, at sea and in cyberspace. There will be our counter-offensive. We are working hard to prepare it,” he said on Facebook.
This Friday, February 24, Volodymyr Zelensky had estimated, in a video address, that Ukraine had “inspired” and “united” the world, since the beginning of the Russian invasion. “Ukraine surprised the world. Ukraine inspired the world. Ukraine united the world. There are thousands of words to prove it, but a few will do,” he said in a social media address. “We endured. We have not been defeated. And we will do everything to win the victory this year, “said the Ukrainian president on Friday. ” We are strong. We are ready for anything. We will defeat everyone. Because we are Ukraine! “, did he declare.
Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory in the early morning hours of February 24, 2022, kicking off Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. A year later, Ukrainian cities have been reduced to rubble, part of the country is under Russian occupation and both sides have more than 150,000 killed or injured each, according to Western estimates. Sitting at a desk, hands crossed, face and tone serious, dressed in a dark blue sweatshirt emblazoned with the trident symbol of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky evoked the Ukrainian cities that were the scene of atrocities committed attributed to the Russians or still symbols of the occupation or the resistance of the army of Kiev.
On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting & fighting.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2023
It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith, and unity. And this year, we remained invincible. We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory! pic.twitter.com/oInWvssjOI
Mariupol, Boutcha, Irpin…: “the capitals of invincibility”
Boutcha, Irpin, Kherson, Mariupol: these Ukrainian cities that are the scene of atrocities committed by the Russians or even symbols of the occupation or the resistance of the Kiev army are the Ukrainian “capitals of invincibility”, a-t he claimed on Friday. “The world has seen what Ukraine is capable of. These are the new heroes. The defenders of kyiv, the defenders of Azovstal. New feats performed by entire cities. Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Mariupol, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Hostomel, Volnovakha, Butcha, Irpin, Okhtyrka. Hero cities. Capitals of invincibility,” he hailed in an address on social media on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
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Ukraine will not stop “until the Russian murderers are punished”. “We will never forgive him. We will never rest until the Russian murderers are punished. By the international tribunal, by the judgment of God or by our soldiers, ”he said in this same video address.
“Himars, Patriot, Abrams, IRIS-T, Challenger, Nasams, Leopard”, shelled the Ukrainian president, citing the names of the weapons supplied for a year, or soon delivered, by Westerners to the Ukrainian army to face the Russian armada.