Category: Attack on Ukraine

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 28 October 2022.

Good evening, warriors of light!

Energetic people who are always ready to fight! Its 246th day is coming to an end.

We continue our resistance. The aggressor continues his terror. We are again attacked from the sky by a flock of their crows.

More than 30 drones were launched in two days. The defenders of our sky prevented the enemy’s vultures from breaking into the rear of the country and downed 23 Shaheds. In addition, the Kh-59 guided air missile, two Ka-52 attack helicopters and another Su-25 attack aircraft were turned into scrap metal. In total, during this period, Russia carried out 4,500 missile strikes and more than 8,000 air raids. But we are fighting, we will shoot down more.

I thank the guardians of our sky.

I am grateful to everyone who participated in the fundraising for the “catchers” of such “Shaheds”. Only on the U24 platform those are 665,000 people from 70 countries. Together, we will certainly clip the wings of all metal monsters, no matter how many of them and from where they fly in the direction of Ukraine. Enemy planes will fall. Enemy helicopters will fall. “Shaheds” will fall. It is only the Ukrainian people who will not fall! A heroic people who will definitely go down in world history. Actually, like this day. It is already history.

It’s already midnight on the clock. October 28 is already on the calendar. Every year on this day, we celebrate the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazi occupiers. We pay tribute to the Ukrainians who fought and defeated Nazism during World War II. Today we do it, holding not flowers in our hands, but weapons. Today, preserving the memory of the exploits of our ancestors means protecting their achievements. We remember the expulsion of the Nazis, approaching the expulsion of the Rashists.

Evil, which seemed to have been finally defeated and burned to the ground in 1945, is reborn from the ashes 80 years later. Gets on its feet. It becomes possible. How did it turn out? Imperceptibly. And very quickly. Just as one day changes another. Instantly. A new day and a new evil are coming instantly. At the very moment when the world does not notice. Some are sleepy, some are fast asleep. Some are not paying attention. Some do not care. And in general, everyone is silent and thinks the same: I will not be affected. The war is somewhere far away. Somewhere in Transnistria. This is the problem of Moldovans. Somewhere in Abkhazia and Ossetia. This is the problem of Georgians. Somewhere in Crimea and Donbas. This is the problem of Ukrainians. We will not be affected. It will not cause damage to us. They will not come for us. Unfortunately, as a result, it becomes everyone’s problem.

Sooner or later, memories of a terrible war become a terrible reality. The neighbor becomes the aggressor. The aggressor becomes a terrorist. And Nazism becomes an example to follow. It may come in a new guise, with new slogans, but with the same goal. Unfortunately, it is not from books that we know about it. We know how evil can break into your house in the last century, eight years ago and eight months ago. Violate the western borders or come from the north, east and annexed Crimea. Attack peaceful cities with bombs or cruise missiles.

Mine the Dnipro HPP or seize the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Drop bombs despite the red cross or the “Children” inscription. Steal grain according to the “Hunger Plan” or threaten the entire planet with hunger.

Abduct and deport people. Abduct and deport children. The form of evil has changed, but the essence has remained unchanged.

Evil always begins in the same way. The invaders call themselves liberators. The invasion of one’s army is called self-defense. As 80 years ago, the Ukrainian people stand up for the defense of their native land. And the enemy’s blitzkrieg plan becomes a failure.

Evil always acts in the same way. Kills civilians, assuring that it hits military targets only. Arranges blockades and filtration camps. And Syrets becomes Olenivka. Destroys cities and villages. And Koryukivka becomes Bucha.

But sooner or later war crimes become known. The reaction of the world becomes painful. The policy of appeasement becomes a tough countermeasure.

The evil finds itself in a zugzwang.

So evil always ends the same way. The occupier becomes a capitulator. The invader becomes a fugitive. War criminals become defendants, aggression becomes a sentence. Destruction becomes reparations. Enemy equipment becomes museum exhibits. The feats of grandfathers become the victories of grandchildren.

The day of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis on the 247th day of our struggle becomes a symbol: the result of our struggle definitely becomes the liberation of our Ukraine. The captured territory becomes free. This has always been the case in the past, and will certainly be the case in the future. In the future of Kherson, Donbas, Luhansk, Crimea. Because our land always becomes free. Resistance becomes pride. Struggle becomes victory. And Ukraine becomes united!

Today, Russia’s only tactic has become terror. Defeat is the only possible outcome of such tactics. Terror became a proof of their weakness and a test of our resilience.

We will not be broken by shelling. The enemy’s rockets in our sky are less scarier than hearing the enemy’s anthem on our land. We are not afraid of the dark.

The darkest times for us are not without light, but without freedom. Our warriors are strong, volunteers are tireless, partners are reliable, and people are indomitable.

The second army of the world will become smaller and smaller. The losses of the enemy will become bigger and bigger. I am confident that enemy propaganda does not work, provocations do not work, threats do not scare. Any hard winter will not scare us as well.

We know that the darkest night comes before dawn. We know that all invaders flee our land in the same way. Gauleiters and self-appointed “governors” end up the same.

Reichskommissariats and quasi-republics die equally. And all our cities will definitely have our flags. Both Junkers and kamikaze drones fall equally. And in our sky there will definitely be our birds, our blue sky, our “Mriya”!

Glory to all who fought against Nazism during World War II! Glory to all who are fighting for Ukraine today!

Glory to our people who will go down in history!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskky, the President of Ukraine, on 27 October 2022.

Dear Ukrainians, I wish you health!

Today I held a big meeting on the energy situation. The participants were government officials, the Office, energy companies, and the State Emergency Service. The topics were diverse. It was recovery of damaged objects, protection of generation, ensuring people’s access to energy.

The state of nuclear and hydrogen generation was analyzed separately, as well as the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.

Russian terrorists have created such difficult conditions for our energy workers that no one in Europe has ever seen or encountered. There were no such threats that our specialists are forced to overcome now. And they overcome them with honor.

I thank all the workers in the energy sector, our rescuers, repair crews, representatives of local governments, private companies who work efficiently enough to maintain the stability of our energy system despite all threats.

In many cities and regions of Ukraine, emergency blackouts happen, power consumption has to be limited. But we all have to remember one thing: we need victory over Russia in the energy sphere as well.

No matter what the enemy does, our task is to break its plans and protect Ukraine. And this is not just someone’s task, it concerns not only energy workers or anyone else. Conscious energy consumption is now needed by all Ukrainians. Please choose your own scheme for limiting electricity consumption while there is a shortage in the general power system.

The situation on the front line has not undergone significant changes. The fiercest battles are in Donetsk region: Bakhmut direction, Avdiyivka. The craziness of the Russian command is now most visible there: day after day for months, they drive people there to death, concentrate the maximum power of artillery strikes there. All our soldiers who hold positions in these directions in Donetsk region are simply heroes.

Active actions in other directions continue. Today I would like to mention the soldiers of the 25th Airborne Brigade for their bravery in liberating the occupied territories in Luhansk region.

In general, we are strengthening our positions everywhere at the front, reducing the capabilities of the occupiers, destroying their logistics and preparing good news for Ukraine.

Today, during the day, the air raid alerts sounded several times over most of the territory of our state. The Air Force has results – another helicopter of the occupiers was shot down, another drone.

By the way, the total number of downed Russian helicopters is already approaching 250. The Russian occupiers have already lost as much equipment – aircraft and other – as most of the world’s armies simply do not have and will never have in service. Russia will not be able to recover these losses. I thank all our fighters for such a gradual and irreversible demilitarization of the enemy.

We continue to do everything possible to free our people from Russian captivity. Today, we can finally announce the release of ten more Ukrainians. Our exchange team is working around the clock.

And I want to emphasize once again that any of our front-line units can speed up exchanges by capturing the occupiers. The more Russian soldiers are in our exchange fund, the sooner we will return Ukrainians home from Russia.

The President of Guinea-Bissau visited Kyiv today. He also chairs the Economic Community of West African Countries. In fact, he is a representative of 15 African countries that are part of this community. And this is the first African leader who visited our country after February 24.

In general, we are consistently expanding our contacts with Africa, filling them with new content. Many negotiations and agreements are taking place for the first time in our history. It is very important that on this continent, where the Kremlin’s influence is traditionally significant, they hear the Ukrainian position and know the full truth about what is really happening. We provide it.

We also work every day to protect our grain export initiative. It is obvious that Russia intends to exacerbate the global food crisis again, to bring back the threat of large-scale famine. And this, in particular, is the responsibility of all our partners – after all, to guarantee food security and end this dirty Russian game with hunger.

Today, due to deliberate Russian inhibition of our food exports, the number of ships waiting for the opportunity to meet contractual obligations is already 175. And this is not just some trade problem. This is the deterioration of access to food for millions of people and the threat of an even greater increase in the prices of essential products on different continents – both in Africa, and in Asia, and in Europe. If, after all, Russia succeeds in the negative scenario, it will end in a new large-scale migration crisis.

Russia as a terrorist state is a terrorist in everything and deserves daily increasing international pressure on it.

I am grateful to those leaders and those politicians who understand and ensure this. I am grateful, in particular, to the Senate of Poland, which decided to officially recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. And such decisions should be adopted by the majority of the countries of the world – Russia itself, by its actions, leaves no alternative.

I thank everyone who helps us fight against Russian terror!

Glory to all who fight and work for the freedom of Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymdr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 26 October 2022.

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

Today we had a very active diplomatic day, events for Ukraine at all levels – the highest, governmental, parliamentary.

In the morning, I addressed the participants of the Berlin conference, which is dedicated to the reconstruction and modernization of our country. This is already the second such conference, after the Swiss one, which took place in the city of Lugano. We are working to obtain resources for the rapid restoration of our infrastructure, social facilities, and housing for Ukrainians.

I am grateful to German Chancellor Scholz and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen for making today’s event in Berlin very meaningful. We are waiting for specific decisions. Time cannot be stopped, and winter is coming.

The Crimea Platform started working in Croatia today – at the parliamentary level.

This is an additional and very powerful level of functioning of our instrument for the deoccupation and reintegration of Crimea.

The Parliament always embodies democracy, represents different communities of each country. Therefore, when parliaments help restore territorial integrity, when, thanks to parliamentary cooperation, expert work and exchange of experience can be directed in the right direction, it is very powerful.

We will definitely liberate Crimea. We will return this part of our country not only to the all-Ukrainian space, but also to the all-European space. This was confirmed once again today. And I am grateful to all our partners – almost 50 states and international organizations – who help in the parliamentary format. I am also grateful to Croatia separately for the hospitality towards our Crimea Platform.

Today I held a meeting with representatives of the Jewish community – American, European and, of course, Israeli.

We talked primarily about the protection of our people, about the need to make Russian terror impossible and to end this war as soon as possible by guaranteeing complete security and freedom for all Ukrainians throughout the territory of Ukraine.

The sooner peace is achieved on our land thanks to the Ukrainian victory, the less evil Russia will bring to other regions, including the Middle East in its cooperation with Iran. I believe that one day Israeli politicians will hear this position, as Israeli society has already done – we feel it.

The protection of historical memory in Ukraine was discussed separately. Despite the war, we must continue to implement our programs that restore historical justice. We started the implementation of an important project commemorating the victims of Nazism – the construction of a memorial in Babyn Yar. We will definitely complete it.

I held extremely meaningful negotiations with the President of Germany, who arrived in Ukraine. Today, President Steinmeier visited the Chernihiv region – the districts that were under occupation. While he was there an air alert started. And actually the Russian missile terror, the enemy’s use of Iranian drones was one of the key topics at our negotiations.

We are deeply grateful to Germany for the modern and effective air defense system already provided to us. We are looking forward to new similar systems.

We discussed the entire range of our cooperation – defense, political, financial.

Significant attention was paid to reconstruction – and I am grateful to President Steinmeier for his willingness to personally patronize this work. We will enhance cooperation with Germany in the field of reconstruction. And at the local government level, it will also receive presidential patronage.

And one more thing.

Just before recording this address, I spoke with new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. I believe that the partnership between our countries and the already traditional British leadership in the defense of democracy and freedom will be further strengthened.

Ukraine and Britain have achieved the best relations so far, but there is still potential to increase our cooperation to bring more benefits to our societies. I invited the Prime Minister to visit Ukraine.

I am grateful to everyone who helps us fight for freedom!

I am grateful to everyone who fights and works for our victory!

I am grateful to all our warriors who are now holding their positions, destroying the occupiers and giving Ukraine the most important feeling: a feeling of confidence in our future.

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskky, the President of Ukraine, on 25 October 2022.

Strong people of our indomitable country!

Today is exactly 8 months of full-scale war. What has been achieved over this time?

We have defended the independence of our state – and Russia cannot change that already. We are liberating the Ukrainian land step by step. Donbas, Kharkiv region, Kherson region are now heard. But Zaporizhzhia region and Crimea will be heard as well – the time will come and all of Ukraine will be free.

Ukraine is breaking the so-called “second army of the world” – and from now on, Russia will only be a beggar. They are begging for something in Iran, they are trying to squeeze something out of Western countries making up various nonsense about Ukraine, intimidating, deceiving…

Never again will Russia be a subject that can dictate something to someone. It no longer has the potential to dictate. The world sees that. Russian potential is being wasted now on this madness – on a war against our state and the entire free world.

There was gas influence – not anymore. There was military influence – it is evaporating. There was political weight – now there is an increasing isolation. There were ideological ambitions – now there’s only disgust.

And this is a very important change in the configuration in our part of Eurasia – the more of its potential Russia loses now, the more real freedom all peoples will get both next to Russia and within its borders. Ukraine – first of all.

On February 24, the Kremlin could not even think about it, although they should have. But now, on October 24, there is no Russian official or propagandist who does not understand where all this is going for them. They started to recall 1917 long ago. The feeling of failure in Russia is getting stronger.

But, realizing all this, we have no right to relax. We still have to go the way to Ukrainian victory. This is a difficult path.

We’ll have to pass this winter, which will be the most difficult in our history. To do the necessary part of the work in autumn, winter and spring in order to get the desired results for the state. To maintain the maximum mobilization of our partners for the sake of the struggle for freedom and not allow our common enemy to split the global pro-democracy coalition.

This is what we do, all Ukrainians, Europeans, all people of the world who value freedom.

I held another meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief today.

We help the active actions of our warriors on the frontline, provide them with everything they need, strengthen the protection of infrastructure facilities, and establish defense against missile and drone threats.

The military, intelligence, and government representatives delivered reports. Separately and in great detail, we are dealing with the system of territorial defense.

I addressed the people of Israel today in the framework of the Conference on Democracy, organized by Haaretz newspaper. This is a very important media – the oldest newspaper in Israel.

There I presented the Ukrainian point of view on the rapprochement between Russia and Iran, on why this rapprochement became possible and what threats it poses to our peoples. I called on Israel to join other democratic countries that already support Ukraine.

We are preparing for very important events tomorrow. The first is the parliamentary summit of the Crimea Platform. Dozens of partner states, hundreds of politicians and public figures. This will be another step in our preparation for the de-occupation of Crimea.

The second event is a summit in Germany dedicated to the reconstruction of Ukraine. We are doing everything to get the necessary resources for the restoration of our country right now, for the development of the social and economic sphere right now. And I sincerely thank all our partners who support Ukraine in this work.

And one more thing.

Today the world celebrates United Nations Day. It was on this day in 1945 that the UN Charter entered into force. It was not written and adopted as something ritualistic – it is not an empty formality. It is one of the basic documents that should work to maintain peace and international legal order.

It should work. And it will work. In particular, we are achieving this through our struggle against illegal and unprovoked Russian armed aggression. Everyone who tries to restore peace for Ukraine is also fighting for peace and security to be possible for all other peoples on earth.

And I want to thank Mr. António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, for our cooperation, for the fact that he truly defends the Charter of the United Nations and global peace.

We have already achieved good results together – this is the release of our prisoners who were held in Russia, this is the grain export initiative, which makes it possible to alleviate the acuteness of the food crisis in the world, this is multifaceted cooperation in UN structures. Thanks for all your help with this! And I believe that we can achieve even more.

Thank you to everyone who fights and works for Ukraine! Eternal glory to our warriors! Eternal glory to our strong people! Eternal gratitude to our friends!

Glory to Ukraine!