Volodymyr Zelensky has told Ukrainians in an emotional speech to mark 31 years of independence that the country was reborn when Russia invaded.
In a speech aired on the six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s president said that the country no longer saw the war ending when there was peace, but when Kyiv was victorious.
He said that Ukraine would recapture annexed Crimea and occupied areas in the east.
“A new nation appeared in the world on 24 February 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.
The 44-year-old wartime leader delivered the speech in his trademark combat fatigues in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence from the Russia-controlled Soviet Union.
“We are holding on for six months. It is difficult for us, but we clenched our fists fighting for our fate,” he added. “Every new day is a new reason not to give up. Because, having gone through so much, we have no right not to reach the end.”
“What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory.”
He added that Ukraine will not “seek an understanding with terrorists although we understand the Russian language that you came to defend... and killed thousands of people you came to liberate”.
“Johnson, who speaks English, is much more understandable and close to us than murderers, rapists and looters who did it in Russian,” Mr Zelensky added.
“We will not sit down at the negotiating table out of fear, with a gun pointed at our heads. For us, the most terrible iron is not missiles, aircraft and tanks, but shackles. Not trenches, but fetters.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 5,587 civilians, according to a Ukrainian military chief and statistics from the UN.
It has also killed thousands of civilians and pushed over a third of Ukraine’s 41 million people from their homes. Several cities have been left in ruins, while the global economy is at risk.
Though Russia has not made public its losses, US intelligence estimates that at least 15,000 have been killed so far.
The war is currently at a standstill with no immediate prospect of peace talks.
Mr Zelensky added that Ukraine will recapture its annexed peninsula of Crimea from Russia by any means necessary. Most of the world recognises Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, as part of Ukraine.
“Donbas is Ukraine. And we will return it, whatever the path may be,” he said in the pre-recorded speech. “Crimea is Ukraine. And we will return it. Whatever the path may be. You don’t want your soldiers to die? Free our lands. You don’t want your mothers to cry? Free our lands. These are our simple and clear terms.”
Besides Crimea and the Donbas region, Russia has also seized some areas of the south, including the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts.
Kyiv broke away from the Soviet Union on this day more than three decades ago. However, the streets of central Kyiv were unusually empty for independence day on Wednesday morning following days of dire warnings of the possibility that Russia could launch fresh missile attacks on major cities.
Residents in Kyiv woke up to air raid sirens on Wednesday morning as the Ukrainian president and military repeatedly urged them to be vigilant and respond to such signals quickly.
Mr Zelensky had said on Tuesday night that it was likely Moscow would stage “repugnant…provocations” around the festivities, and urged people to respond to air raid sirens quickly.
“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,” he said.
As a safety precaution, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv have banned public celebrations. However, in a show of defiance, burned-out Russian tanks were placed in the centre of the capital.
Russia’s war effort has made little progress recently, especially after Ukraine pushed back its troops from Kyiv in the first few months of the war.
Russia has claimed that this is because it has deliberately slowed down its “special military operation” to avoid civilian casualties in Ukraine.
But UK defence secretary Ben Wallace claimed that Russia was in a “very fragile position” and was making little progress.
“Russia’s advance can be measured in metres per week, not miles,” Mr Wallace told BBC Radio 4. “It is grinding in small parts of the country in an attempt to advance – completely opposite of the three-days special operation that it touted at the beginning of this, six months ago.”
“I think Ukraine is getting itself into that position” to retake Ukrainian territory, he added. “If you look at the morale of the Ukrainian forces, it is leagues ahead of the Russian morale, which is poorly-trained troops, etc.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s allies offered more support to coincide with Independence Day.
The US is set to provide an additional $3bn (£2.5bn) in aid to help train and equip Ukrainian forces. America has already sent $10.6bn in security assistance to Ukraine so far.
The package, expected to be announced on Wednesday, marks a shift to a longer-term campaign that will likely keep more American military troops in Europe into the future, US officials said.
The money will fund contracts for drones, weapons and other equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two, US officials said.
Norway and Britain will give Ukraine micro drones to help it fight off Russian troops, the Norwegian defence ministry has said.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the cost of the Teledyne Flir Black Hornet drones, which are used to identify targets, is around $9.26m.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson also decided to show solidarity with Ukraine by creating an arch of sunflowers – Ukraine’s national flower – outside his Downing Street office.
Additional reporting by agencies
