When Russia invaded, Ukraine was ‘reborn,’ says Zelenskiy

In an emotional speech marking 31 years of independence, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy assured Ukrainians that when Russia invaded on Feb. 24, Ukraine was reborn and that it will retake annexed Crimea and occupied eastern provinces.

 

Zelenskiy stated in a recorded speech televised on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion that Ukraine no longer saw the war ending when there was peace, but when Kyiv was victorious.

 

‘On February 24 at 4 a.m., a new nation appeared in the globe. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream, or take terror. A nation that did not escape. Did not give up. And did not forget,’ he added.

 

In front of Kyiv’s central monument to freedom from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union, the 44-year-old wartime leader delivered the address in his signature fighting fatigues.

 

‘What does the conclusion of the war mean to us? We used to say peace; now we say victory,’ he explained.

 

Following days of grim warnings that Russia could launch further missile assaults on major cities, the streets of central Kyiv were oddly quiet on Wednesday morning.