Kyiv: A full year has passed since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine.
The east European nation has refused to be rolled over, and fought gallantly, led by its President Volodymyr Zelensky.
To mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky on Friday issued a message of typical defiance, saying that “2023 will be the year of our victory.”
Zelensky shared moments from war in a short video, saying that despite suffering pain and sorrow, his countrymen have been bravely resisting and fighting Russian forces.
“On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting and fighting. 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,” he said alongside the video.
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.
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— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2023
In another video, Zelensky recalled how he had addressed fellow-Ukrainians a year ago.
“A year ago on this day, from this same place around seven in the morning, I addressed you with a brief statement, lasting only 67 seconds… we are strong. We are ready for anything. We will defeat everyone. This is how it began on February 24, 2022. The longest day of our lives. The most difficult day in our recent history. We woke up early and haven’t slept since,” Zelensky said in a 15-minute speech in a video titled ‘The year of invincibility’.
More than 100,000 from both sides have been killed or grievously wounded in the bloody conflict, according to Western military estimates, in what is being said to be the biggest in Europe since World War II.
“Almost everyone has at least one contact in their phone that will never pick up the phone again… He who will not respond to the SMS ‘How are you’? These two simple words got a new meaning during the year of the war,” Reuters quoted Zelenskiy as saying.
Praising his people, Zelenskiy — who has led from the front rather than fleeing from the war-torn country – said: “We became one big army. We have become a team where someone finds, someone packs, someone brings, but everyone contributes.”
He has convinced the West and rest of the world to provide financial and military aid to help Ukraine continue to fight.
US President Joe Biden recently made an unannounced visit to Kyiv in a strong show of support to Ukraine.
