Category: Attack on Ukraine

Boris Johnson – 2022 Press Conference With President Zelenskyy in Kyiv

The text of the press conference between Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, and Volodymr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, in Kyiv on 24 August 2022.

Thank you very much Volodymyr and thank you to the people of Ukraine for the incredible honour that you have done me which is a recognition of the efforts of the UK.

When you rang me at 4 in the morning on that grim day in February and you told me the news that we had been dreading that Putin had been so insane as to invade a sovereign European country,

I told you then that we were shoulder to shoulder with you and that is as true today as it was in that horrific moment.

And I can also tell you that when we met in the high security room in Downing Street to try to understand what was happening, we were filled with foreboding.

We just did not see how this innocent and beautiful country could repel an attack by more than 100 Battalion Tactical Groups, when the suffering and the casualties would be so immense. But you did.

And like one of those indomitable Ukrainian boxers for which this country is justly famous,

you came off the ropes and you hit him with an upper-cut that sent Putin’s armies reeling from Kyiv and then a hook to drive them from Kharkiv,

And it became ever clearer to the world that he had fatally underestimated the grit, the will, and above all the price that you were willing to pay to defend the country you love.

And I salute the heroic dead, I salute the families of the bereaved and the injured,

the emergency services who have been called time after time to the scenes of Putin’s atrocities.

I salute the bravery of the ordinary people of Ukraine who have just got on with their lives.

The teachers, the students, the children.

In our country today young people are getting their grades for their exams and of course it has been a tough time for them,

because we’ve all had to cope with the pandemic.

But I ask them all to think of the children of Ukraine,

two thirds of whom have been driven from their homes, two thirds,

and who have seen nearly a fifth of their schools destroyed or damaged.

And yet working by candlelight or in makeshift classrooms, 7,500 of them have achieved the highest possible grades.

And it is our collective mission to ensure those brilliant students grow up to use their qualifications to achieve their dreams in a peaceful, prosperous and independent Ukraine.

And I believe they will, because out of the ashes of your towns and cities, out of the monstrous scars left by Putin’s missiles, something beautiful is blooming, a flower that the whole world can see and admire and that is the unconquerable will of the Ukrainians to resist.

And that was what Putin failed to understand.

He simply had no idea how much Ukrainians love this extraordinary country with its rich black soil and magical golden domes,

how much they treasure the life, the bustle and the freedom and the Eurovision song contest winning cultural dynamism of Ukraine.

And just as he fatally underestimated Ukraine, he also underestimated the price the whole world was willing to pay to support Ukraine.

We have and we well and even though we must accept after six months of war the price is indeed a high price.

And I have come from a United Kingdom where we are battling inflation that is being driven by the spike in energy prices that is caused by Putin’s war.

And we face strikes being driven by trade union’s bosses who have the ruinous belief that the best way to tackle soaring energy prices is with ever higher wages when that is simply to pour petrol on the flames

and of course we are doing everything we can to deal with the pressures people face on their cost of living and to help people through the difficult months ahead.

And that is why it is so important for you to know now that we in Britain have the strength and the patience to get through these economic difficulties that have been so recklessly driven and exacerbated by the folly and malevolence of one man, Vladimir Putin.

And like every other European country we are of course working to end our dependence on Russian hydrocarbons and we are building those new nuclear power stations, one a year rather than one every ten years, tens of gigawatts of new wind farms and I can tell you that we in the UK will not for one second give in to Putin’s economic blackmail because the people of my countrycan see with complete clarity what is at stake in Ukraine today.

Yes of course, it is about you and your right to live in peace and freedom and frankly that on its own is enough,

but it is also about all of us, all of us who believe in the principles of freedom and democracy and here today now in Ukraine I believe that history is at a turning point and after decades in which democracy has been on the defensive, on the back foot, we have an opportunity to join you in saying no to tyranny, saying no to those who would stifle Ukrainian liberty and independence and we will. And that is why Ukraine will win.

And we also know that if we are paying in our energy bills for the evils of Vladimir Putin, the people of Ukraine are paying for it in their blood and that is why we know that we must stay the course because if Putin were to succeed, then no country on Russia’s perimeter would be safe and if Putin succeeds it would be a green light to every autocrat in the world, a signal that that borders can be changed by force and that is why the British House of Commons, all parties, stood as one, to applaud Volodymyr Zelenskyy and to support the military, diplomatic and economic support that we are giving to Ukraine.

And I’m proud that we have already supplied more arms than any other European country, including 6,900 anti tank missiles, 5000 of the NLAWs, 120 armoured vehicles, Starstreak anti aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles and now the MLRS

And today I can tell you that more artillery and more ammunition is on its way and 2000 UAVs

and we are training 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers, alongside our allies, and only the other day I was at Catterick in Yorkshire and I met 400 of your recruits that we are helping to train

and these were people from all walks of life, people who weren’t soldiers, who had never been to battle before. But the grim reality was that in just a few weeks from now they are heading to that frontline.

And when I listened to their cheerfulness and their courage, I knew Ukraine will win.

And in offering this kind of training and equipment,

I also want to applaud our friends around the world, in the EU, the Poles, the Baltic countries, the Dutch, the Czechs, the French, the Germans, the Italians, they’ve been steadfast.

But at this juncture it would be right to pay a special tribute to the outstanding global leadership of the United States of America,

And let me be clear, I believe this commitment by the United States of $40 billion in military support, I think $59 billion all told, has been indispensable to Ukrainian success

and I thank Joe Biden and his team for what he is doing and to all our friends I simply say this: we must keep going. WE must show that we have the same strategic endurance as the people of Ukraine.

We know that the coming winter will be tough, and that Putin will manipulate Russian energy supplies to try to torment households across Europe

and our first test as friends of Ukraine will be to face down and endure that pressure – to help consumers but also to build up our own supplies

and I believe that as we come through this winter, our position will strengthen and with every week that goes by Putin’s position will weaken. And that’s why now we must continue and intensify our support for Ukraine. The HIMARs the MLRS and all the systems that are proving so effective in Ukrainian hands.

We cannot afford for one moment to relax the sanctions on Putin, and we must keep up the financial and economic support for Ukraine

and every day around the world we must fight Putin’s lies – because it is his war that is pushing up the price of food and oil and gas, not western sanctions

and we must fight any creeping attempt to normalise relations with Putin because it is becoming ever clearer that thanks to the sacrifices of the people of Ukraine, the vaunted Russian offensive in Donbas is failing and therefore this is exactly the moment for your friends to help you strike the Russians just as they begin to wobble.

We know that Putin’s troops are tiring, that his losses are colossal, that his supply lines are vulnerable.

We can see how tiny his recent advances have become, and how huge the cost in Russian blood and treasure and tragically in the tears of Russian mothers.

And we also know that this is not the time to advance some flimsy plan for negotiation with someone who is simply not interested.

You can’t negotiate with a bear while it’s eating your leg, you can’t negotiate with a street robber who has you pinned to the floor and we don’t need to worry about humiliating Putin any more than we would need to worry about humiliating the bear or the robber.

All that matters today is restoring and preserving the sovereign integrity of Ukraine.

And on this anniversary, let us remember that glorious day 31 years ago when on an 84 per cent turnout 92 per cent supported independence.

And this is now a war for that independence and history teaches us that when a country has a language, an identity, a pride, a love of its traditions, a patriotic feeling that simply grows with every month and year that passes,

and when a country of that kind is engaged in a war for its very existence, my friends, that war is only going to end one way.

Ukraine will win,

and Britain will be by your side.

You have reminded us of values that the world thought it had forgotten,

you have reminded us that freedom and democracy are worth fighting for.

I’m proud to count myself a friend of Ukraine, I thank you for the honour that you’ve done me today,

and you can count on me and my country in the years ahead.

August 25, 2022
Tony Blair – 2022 Comments on the Personality of Vladimir Putin

The comments made by Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, on CNN News on 25 May 2022.

So the first Putin I met was Western facing, anxious to have a good relationship with the West, he used to insist that we met in St. Petersburg because it’s the Western facing great city of Russia. Then I think he found the challenges of reform and change in Russia too great and he decided to consolidate power in a more autocratic way, and then become a Russian nationalist. And so, the second incarnation of Putin if you like, was cold and calculating and brutal, but still, I would say entirely rational within his own terms.

The anxiety I think everyone has is that he’s now completely detached from reality, surrounded by people who won’t tell him the truth. And this is why this incredible miscalculation, I mean, leave aside the the wickedness of it. I mean, the miscalculation strategically and in every possible way has been enormous. Anyone who knows Ukraine would know that there was never any question of Ukrainians agreeing to be subjugated to Russia in this way. So, I think that’s that’s the worry, the trajectory has been away from a reforming Western oriented leader who could have allowed Russia to become part of the West. People even used to talk in the old days, talking about those times when I was there, about could Russia become a member of the European Union? Is there a way Russia could be accommodated, literally within the structures of NATO? And it’s very important people remember this because, this myth that Putin perpetrates, that we were somehow always trying to push him and humiliate Russia. Russia’s problems is not the result of our humiliation of Russia, it’s as a result of bad government in Russia.

August 25, 2022
David Cameron – 2022 Comments on Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The comments made by David Cameron, the former Prime Minister, on Channel 4 News on 16 March 2022.

QUESTION:

If you were Prime Minister today, would you rule out a no-fly zone?

DAVID CAMERON:

I’m afraid I would, you know, in our hearts every shred of our being wants to do everything we can to help the Ukrainians in their struggle, and we are helping, we’re helping with weapons, we help with training, we’re helping with refugees, but there’s more we can do on humanitarian aid. But I think we have to be very clear with our friends and allies and people who we care deeply about, we must be clear about what we can do, but I’m afraid we also have to be clear about what we can’t do. That said there are more things that we can do.

QUESTION:

Like what?

DAVID CAMERON:

Well, I think the process started under my premiership of sending more troops to frontline states in NATO; to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, let’s turn some of those into permanent bases. Let’s be absolutely clear about the strength of Article 5 and our commitment to defend every inch of NATO territory. Let’s do more on humanitarian aid. We achieved 0.7% of GDP in our aid payments, I’m sad we got away from that. I hope we can get back to it. Let’s with the EU leave the Donor Conference, lead the aid effort. Let’s have a dedicated aid minister in the cabinet, doing development. The Foreign Office ministers do a great job, but it’d be good to have someone who’s 100% dedicated to humanitarian aid and development.

QUESTION:

Is there a danger here that this could turn into World War Three?

DAVID CAMERON:

What Putin has done is so much more ghastly and awful than many people predicted that I think it’s very dangerous to predict what he might do next. I think the best thing we can do is be absolutely clear about how vital Article 5 is, how vital NATO is, to be absolutely clear about the consequences of that sort of action.

August 25, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Comments on Visit to Kyiv

The comments made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 24 August 2022.

For the past six months, the United Kingdom has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine, supporting this sovereign country to defend itself from this barbaric and illegal invader.

Today’s package of support will give the brave and resilient Ukrainian Armed Forces another boost in capability, allowing them to continue to push back Russian forces and fight for their freedom.

What happens in Ukraine matters to us all, which is why I am here today to deliver the message that the United Kingdom is with you and will be with you for the days and months ahead, and you can and will win.

August 24, 2022
Boris Johnson – 2022 Speech to the Crimea Platform Summit

The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 23 August 2022.

I want to congratulate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy particularly for bringing us together and focusing our attention on Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea because that land grab in 2014 was the direct precursor to today’s war, and we should have the humility to acknowledge that not everyone realised the sheer enormity of what was happening at the time.

All of our countries however reacted with strength and unity after Putin escalated his onslaught against Ukraine on the 24th February this year, but the first act of this tragedy opened eight years earlier – almost to the day – when Russian forces began fanning out across Crimea, and taking control of a peninsula seizing which constitutes 10,000 square miles of sovereign Ukrainian territory.

At a stroke, Putin forcibly annexed the territory of a European country – and forcibly redrew a European frontier for the first time since 1945.

He ignored the fact that Russia itself had repeatedly recognised Crimea as being part of Ukraine, and he broke so many international agreements that I cannot list them all, but they include Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Russia-Ukraine Treaty of Friendship.

And ever since the annexation , the people of Crimea have endured a brutal and systematic campaign of human rights abuses by the Russian authorities, including the persecution of the Tatars, arbitrary arrests, with a tenfold increase in detentions in last year, and the restriction of land ownership to Russian citizens.

Once he had grabbed Crimea, Putin deployed more and more Russian forces in the peninsula, turning the territory into an armed camp from which to threaten the rest of Ukraine, and Crimea duly became the launch pad for the invasion on 24th February. Or one of the launch pads. And I’m afraid that all this has even greater salience today because Putin is planning to do to parts of Ukraine, in fact all of Ukraine, what he has done to Crimea, and he is preparing more annexations and more sham referendums.

So it has never been more important for all of us to stand together in defence of the foundational principle of international law, which is that, no territory, no country, can acquire territory or change borders by force of arms, and it so follows that we will never recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea or any other Ukrainian territory.

In the face of Putin’s assault, we must continue give our Ukrainian friends all the military, humanitarian, economic and diplomatic support that they need until Russia ends this hideous war and withdraws its forces from the entirety of Ukraine.

Thank you all very much.

August 23, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (19/08/2022) – 177 days

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 19 August 2022.

Ukrainians!

All Europeans!

For 177 days already, the report on the events in Ukraine is important for the entire continent.

Ukrainian diplomats, our partners, representatives of the UN and the IAEA are working out the specific details of the mission to be sent to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. With this mission, the restoration of full security at the ZNPP and in Enerhodar can begin. And I am grateful to everyone who joined this work and initiative.

If Russian blackmail with radiation continues, this summer may go down in the history of various European countries as one of the most tragic of all time. Because not a single instruction at any nuclear power plant in the world envisages a procedure in case a terrorist state turns a nuclear power plant into a target.

Of course, today it is worth paying attention to another aspect of Russian blackmail in the field of energy. Gas supplies to Germany via the first Nord Stream are again being restricted and absurd statements are being made again that it is allegedly possible to compensate for something via Nord Stream 2. These “streams” are needed by Russia exclusively to supply problems to Europe, not to help someone there with gas. Now it is absolutely obvious.

The longer the terrorist state remains on the European and world energy market, the longer it will not be stable. And the sooner everyone in Europe prepares their energy systems to exist without any supply of energy carriers from Russia, the sooner they will be able to calmly go through any winter.

Today there was a very important visit to Ukraine by Eurocities representatives led by the mayor of Florence. This Association unites the mayors of more than 150 European cities, as well as representatives of dozens of other partner cities.

We will cooperate with them directly – Ukrainian cities and communities with European cities and communities.

The key issue is, of course, the rebuilding of our cities. The relevant memorandum was signed today. But not only this will be the subject of our important cooperation.

The modern development of any country is primarily the development of cities, the creation of new opportunities and institutions in cities, the exchange of experience between cities and urban institutions. And therefore, these are new jobs, greater social capital and higher level of security for people.

On the Ukrainian side, the subject of relations with the Association of European Cities will be our Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. I want to assure that every city of our state will benefit from this. We are interested in sustainable development throughout the territory of Ukraine – and it will be so. Without any exceptions.

And today I want to address separately the residents of all our cities of Ukraine, which are subjected to constant brutal shelling by Russia. Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, all the cities of Donbas, the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Zaporizhzhia region… All those who experience this constant horror of the destruction of life and the destruction of everything that gives life normality. We will not leave any of these strikes unanswered. We will establish the identity of every occupier who gives orders and executes these strikes at cities. And we will bring them all to justice in one way or another. No murderer will hide.

And we will certainly restore everything that the terrorists try to leave in ruins. The word “ruins” will never be a word about Ukraine, will never be a word about our cities. Russia will definitely not succeed in this.

Eternal glory to all who bring our victory closer!

Eternal glory to all who fight for our beautiful, strong Ukraine, for our people!

Glory to Ukraine!

August 20, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (18/08/2022) – 176 days

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 18 August 2022.

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

Today we are in Lviv, the Potocki Palace, now. At the end of this very busy day, here’s my report on events, meetings, negotiations and decisions.

We have been here since the morning. And once again I want to thank the city of Lviv, all Lviv residents for the attention, comfort and emotional support felt throughout the day.

First of all, I paid a visit to our defenders – those who are being treated after injuries in the hospital. Very brave guys, strong. I thanked the doctors who are doing everything to restore the health of our warriors as soon as possible.

I was very happy to see the boys and girls studying at the Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy. It was extremely pleasant to hear that more and more people want to become officers of the Ukrainian army. The competition for one place in the academy is of such a scale that used to be only in civilian universities before. And this really gives a reason to be proud not just of the patriotism of our youth, but of the fact that people believe in Ukraine, in our Armed Forces, in our victory. I presented awards to the best warriors.

During a special ceremony on the Field of Mars of the Lychakiv Cemetery, we honored the memory of all those who gave their lives for Ukraine and for the independence of our country in this brutal war.

There is no other alternative – we must return everything of ours and guarantee security for all future generations of Ukraine.

I held talks with UN Secretary-General Guterres and President of Türkiye Erdoğan.

Most of the points discussed are already in the news. I want to say a few main things now.

First. There are no objective obstacles to prevent the IAEA mission from reaching the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Today, Mr. Guterres and I discussed the parameters of this mission and the fact that it can get to the plant very quickly and quite safely in a legal way through the free territory of our state. And just like that.

The one who organized nuclear blackmail certainly cannot be the “transporter” of any such missions. Russia must immediately and unconditionally allow IAEA representatives to the plant and also immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from the territory of the plant. The world has the power to ensure this.

If it does not ensure this, we can simply throw the entire body of international documents on nuclear and radiation safety into the trash. Russia is destroying this international order.

The second extremely important point of the negotiations is Ukrainian prisoners of war held by the Russian Federation.

I called on Mr. Secretary-General to use all the capabilities of the UN to ensure Russia’s compliance with all norms of international law regarding prisoners of war. And we discussed sending a fact-finding mission to Olenivka. The full truth about this Russian terrorist attack must and will be established.

Of course, we talked about the grain export initiative. The result is there – and not only for Ukraine, but also for the world, as it is felt that the severity of the global food crisis is decreasing.

Therefore, there is a great need for more security, a greater volume of exports, more ships that can deliver Ukrainian food from our ports.

I held very substantive negotiations on many topics today with President of Türkiye Erdoğan. I am grateful to him for his unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state. We discussed defense, economic and energy cooperation.

I am grateful to Türkiye for its willingness to take under patronage the reconstruction of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region. This is a mission for a truly powerful country. Today, the first step was taken – an agreement on infrastructure was signed.

I called on both Mr. President and Mr. Secretary-General to voice the strictest possible position regarding Russia’s planned pseudo-referendums in the occupied territory. Any pseudo-referendum will be a slap in the face of the international community.

And I want to mention one more thing today.

It was an extremely hard night in Kharkiv – more than ten people died. Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia were again shelled. The Russian army is spending enormous resources to capture at least one more kilometer in Donbas. Russian officials reiterate threats to Odesa and other cities of Ukraine. We see what is happening at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. We see what happened in Olenivka.

We can and should think only about how to win. To win on the battlefield, on the political front, in the information confrontation, in the economic plane, everywhere…

Let’s believe in ourselves, help each other, protect the interests of Ukraine and know that there will be peace.

He who fights and fights wisely wins.

Eternal glory to all our warriors! Eternal memory to all those whose lives were taken away by the occupiers.

Glory to Ukraine!

August 20, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (17/08/2022) – 175 days

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 17 August 2022.

Dear Ukrainians!

Diplomacy in the interests of our country is very active these days. First of all, today a ceremony of presenting credentials to the new ambassadors of foreign countries who arrived to work in our capital was held in the Sophia of Kyiv. The work of embassies in full capacity, the presence of ambassadors in Kyiv is one of the important indicators of the strength of our state, the Ukrainian ability to fight and win. Already 55 diplomatic missions have resumed their work. And today, the new ambassadors of Belgium, Spain, Kyrgyzstan and Romania presented their credentials.

Secondly, UN Secretary General António Guterres has already arrived in Ukraine. We will work to get the necessary results for Ukraine.

Thirdly, Ukrainian diplomats, our nuclear scientists and the IAEA are in constant touch, now they are working on sending the IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Only absolute transparency and controlled situation at and around the ZNPP can guarantee a gradual return to normal nuclear safety for the Ukrainian state, for the international community, and for the IAEA.

The Russian army must withdraw from the territory of the nuclear power plant and all neighboring areas, and take away its military equipment from the plant. This must happen without any conditions and as soon as possible. Ukraine is ready to ensure proper control of the IAEA, and the relevant mission can be sent to the Zaporizhzhia plant in a legal way, very fast and as efficiently as possible.

Today, I made a very important address to the university communities, journalists and political circles of Chile and Latin America in general. This is not an easy direction of foreign policy – we are doing many things there now practically from scratch. We are working not only at the political level, but also establishing relations directly with the societies of the countries of this region. I called on Chileans and all freedom-loving people in Latin America to spread the truth about Russia’s war against our country and to support the sanctions policy aimed at making the terrorist state pay the highest possible price for terror.

In the evening, I signed new decrees on awarding our soldiers. 230 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were given state awards, 43 of them posthumously. Also, 24 employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine were awarded state awards.

All our soldiers – our army, our intelligence, border guards, the National Guard, the SBU and everyone involved in defending our state and people are doing everything possible to fight Russian terrorists and push them out of Ukrainian land.

The Avdiyivka area, Bakhmut area, Kharkiv region, and some other regions are the regions where the most difficult fighting is going on right now. I am grateful to everyone who withstands this pressure, who defends positions and helps our soldiers. In Zaporizhzhia region, in some areas of the south of the country, the occupiers are trying to improve their situation, but strategically it is hopeless for them. Ukrainian soldiers will destroy the potential of the occupiers step by step, and the day will come when the enemy will die in Zaporizhzhia, in the south, in the east of the country, and in Crimea. The invaders will die like dew on the sun, and our defense is and will be this sun.

Eternal glory to all who defend Ukraine!

Eternal gratitude to all those who focused on helping our people in a true Ukrainian unity!

Glory to Ukraine!

August 20, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Address to University Community of Chile

The address made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 17 August 2022.

Dear Mr. Rector!

Dear students and university teachers who joined our conversation today!

Dear journalists and everyone present!

I am grateful for the opportunity to address you and tell you what is happening in Ukraine and why the Russian war against our country is still going on. Why there is no peace.

A full-scale war, a full-scale Russian invasion of the territory of Ukraine has been going on for 175 days. For 175 days, millions of Ukrainians have defended the independence of our state.

But not only independence. This is a struggle not only for the state and not only for the opportunity of our people to independently decide their future.

Indeed, the primary motive of Russian aggression against Ukrainians is purely colonialist – the Russian leadership wants its domination over Ukrainian land and over our resources. And for a long time it was heard in Moscow that they would not restore the Russian empire without seizing the territory of Ukraine.

However, it became a much deeper struggle than any imperial or geopolitical intentions. Russia is literally waging a war against the lives of our people, against the very right to life of Ukrainians.

And this war started not 175 days ago. On February 24 of this year, Russia switched to massive aggression – to attacks from the north, from the east, and from the south at once; all our ports on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov were blocked; massive missile strikes were launched throughout the territory of Ukraine.

But it was a continuation of the war. The war that began in 2014. It began when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula, ignited the confrontation in Donbas, which claimed thousands of lives. They were thousands.

Therefore, when we talk about Russia’s war against Ukraine, we are talking about eight years and 175 days. And when we talk about the victims of this war, about Ukrainian losses, we do not start the story from February 2022. We start it in 2014, when Ukrainians began to be killed simply because they were Ukrainians.

For the Ukrainian flag. For a pro-Ukrainian position. For defending the Ukrainian territory. Even simply for the suspicion that a person supports the Ukrainian state.

Today I want to tell you about one such person. About a guy who would have turned 25 this fall, and he would probably be a lot like you right now.

His name was Stepan Chubenko. He was from the city of Kramatorsk in Donbas. Bright young man. He was remembered as kind and very active – if he had entered a university similar to yours, he would probably have become one of the student leaders. Perhaps he would not have betrayed his dream and chosen the path of a sports career – and he would have been able to become the goalkeeper of one of the teams you know.

I ask you to look at these photos now – that’s the kind of guy he was.

He was killed on July 27, 2014. He was killed by militants – one of those whose hands Russia used to wage a hybrid war in Donbas and whom it is now using in the full-scale war.

They detained Stepan when he was returning home. They saw a yellow and blue ribbon on his backpack – the colors of our flag. And that was reason enough for them to grab the boy. He was beaten for several days, tortured, and shot.

Only in the middle of August of that year, weeks after the murder, Stepan’s mother managed to find out what happened to her son. But she was not given his body.

Only in November 2014 it was possible to bury him.

Stepan’s mother has the last text message from him: “I’ll call you later, I love you.”

His killers hid in the territory of Russia and Crimea occupied by Russia. They received sentences from the Ukrainian court. But the terrorist state Russia protects them from being prosecuted.

Them and thousands of other such murderers.

Those who shot people simply because they were Ukrainians. Simply because they were Ukrainians in Ukraine.

Those who shot men and women in the back of the head for the mere suspicion that the person was defending our state.

Those who shot at residential buildings, at schools and hospitals point blank from tanks.

Those who used artillery to bombard peaceful cities.

It started back then – in 2014, and 175 days ago it reached the maximum scale that the Russian army, Russian mercenaries from the so-called military companies, which are de facto part of the secret services of the terrorist state, are capable of.

Russia really wants to seize the territory of Ukraine. And it needs this territory without Ukrainians.

The destroyed Mariupol and dozens of other cities and villages of Ukraine, the Bucha massacre and other cities in the occupied territory are not exceptions to the general Russian strategy, this is what it is – the Russian strategy towards Ukraine and Ukrainians.

Tens of thousands of our people are kept for months in the so-called “filtration camps” set up by the Russian military.

Thousands of Ukrainian children were deported from the territory entered by the Russian army. They are taken to Russia, and Russian officials are trying to do everything so that these children lose all contact with their families and simply forget who they are.

Monuments and museums that simply remind of Ukraine are being destroyed on the occupied territory. They destroy books. They do everything so that people are forced to give up their national identity, their aspirations, dreams, and obey violence and robbery or die.

Ukraine has already lost the lives of tens of thousands of its people in this war. Very small children – one-month-old babies, who were killed by Russian missiles, shells and bullets. Teenagers. Men and women. Elderly people.

Russia does not care who to kill and who to abuse. Everyone is equally its target. And these are not excesses of war. This is its conscious policy.

Therefore, we have no other choice but to fight for the lives of Ukrainians, so that in Ukraine they are not killed for a yellow-blue ribbon on a teenager’s backpack. And this struggle can last only until victory.

I can’t count how many times before February 24 I suggested to Russia to end the war and negotiate peace. In different formats, through different mediation.

It took many years to negotiate.

But the leadership of Russia chose terror, not an agreement. They chose what they did in Mariupol, in Bucha, not peace. And when Moscow saw that the world would not turn a blind eye to Russian atrocities, they wanted to bring the whole world to its knees.

That is why the food crisis has become so acute. That is why Russia is deliberately destabilizing the energy markets. That is why Russian policy is deepening the crisis of the cost of living in many countries for mercenary motives. And this is why we must jointly resist Russian aggression.

When a state turns energy poverty or hunger into a weapon, it is a blow to everyone in the world. When a state tries to conquer another because it wants to be a colonizer, it is a threat to all who value their independence. And when people are killed simply because they are, because they belong to their people, because they do not give up their homeland, it is a threat to humanity as such.

Can you stay away? Can you stay indifferent? I don’t believe that.

That is why you are here today, because you value the truth.

And I’m not asking too much of you. I ask you to spread only the truth – spread the truth about this war in your country and in your region. It is necessary to oppose Russian propaganda.

Demand full accountability for Russian murderers and executioners. Every war crime must receive its verdict by a competent and honest court.

Support sanctions against Russia – because the aggressor must pay the highest price for aggression.

And most importantly, value peace, value life, value your freedom and always, when you have such an opportunity, help defend peace, life and freedom by protecting those from whom they want to take it.

I am very grateful to each of you, thank you for your attention!

August 19, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 2022 Statement on the Situation in Ukraine (16/08/2022) – 174 days

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 16 August 2022.

Ukrainians!

Every day and every night we see new reports of explosions in the territory temporarily occupied by the occupiers. I am now asking all our people in Crimea, in other regions in the south of the country, in the occupied areas of Donbas, in the Kharkiv region to be very careful. Please do not approach the military objects of the Russian army and all those places where they store ammunition and equipment, where they keep their headquarters.

The reasons for the explosions in the occupied territory can be different, very different, in particular, I quote the definition of the occupiers themselves, “bungling”.

But they all have the same meaning: the destruction of the occupiers’ logistics, their ammunition, military and other equipment, command posts saves the lives of our people. The fewer opportunities the occupiers have to do evil and kill Ukrainians, the sooner we will be able to end this war by liberating our land. And the queue these days to leave Crimea for Russia across the bridge proves that the absolute majority of citizens of the terrorist state already understand or at least feel that Crimea is not a place for them.

And I want to thank all Ukrainians who help our Armed Forces, our intelligence, our special services weaken the army of the occupiers. This is a significant advantage of Ukraine and the root cause of our future victory – the struggle of our defenders is based on the unconditional support of the Ukrainian people. This is a people’s war of liberation, this is an all-Ukrainian struggle for freedom and independence for our country.

Ukraine is protected by millions in one way or another. Millions of people who fight at the front, who fight for their cities and villages, including in the occupation, who stopped the occupiers’ military equipment, who informed and inform our intelligence and special services, who oppose the occupiers in their rear, who ensure the necessary supplies for Ukraine and the work of all our state institutions and economy, who volunteer, who fight for our interests abroad, who fight in the information war.

And we have to do – and will do – everything to preserve this nationwide foundation of defense.

For the support of Ukraine in the world not to decrease and for our state to move towards victory, our own activity should not decrease either – the activity of absolutely everyone who in one way or another stood up for the defense of our state. Do everything, as you have been doing, for Ukraine. And even more, because the leadership of Russia expects that Ukrainians, Europeans and the whole world will get tired of this war. We must do everything so that it is not us or our friends and partners who get tired, but our enemy. For us to expel the occupiers from Ukraine, every day must make it more and more difficult for Russia to wage a war – this is our number one military-political task.

I spoke today with President of France Emmanuel Macron. I informed him about the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and regular Russian provocations. I thanked him for the great support. In particular, Mr. President and I have discussed new security and macro-financial assistance to our state.

I also held talks with the Prime Minister of Denmark. Also about increasing financial support for Ukraine, about new sanctions against Russia. I thanked Mrs. Frederiksen for the defense assistance and for the fruitful conference in Copenhagen which recently agreed on concrete decisions for our defense.

For the first time in the history of our bilateral relations, I held talks with the President of Zambia. Cooperation in international organizations, food security and current global threats were discussed.

Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Juan Manuel Santos, ex-President of Colombia, visited Ukraine today. The main topic of conversation with them is security guarantees for Ukraine.

We are doing everything to form a military, political and legal security architecture for Ukraine, which will be real, effective and work in the long term, guaranteeing peace to our people.

The Russian army continued its absolutely senseless and brutal shelling of the cities of the Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions – Orikhiv, Nikopol… Unfortunately, there are wounded, unfortunately, there are casualties. Shelling of Kharkiv and the border areas continues. But all this will not give anything to the occupiers and will not break our resistance.

Our heroes repel constant and very powerful attacks in Donbas. The occupiers use everything there: aviation, missiles, phosphorus bombs, artillery… Very fierce battles are going on.

We have to go through it, endure everything and gain life. Ukraine must win, and it will.

Today I signed the decree on awarding our defenders. 189 warriors were awarded state awards. 158 are National Guard servicemen, 21 of them were awarded posthumously. 26 border guards, two of them posthumously. Three police officers, two of them posthumously. Two employees of the State Customs Service, one of them posthumously.

Eternal memory to all those who gave their lives for Ukraine!

Eternal glory to all our heroes!

Glory to Ukraine!

August 17, 2022