Category: Speeches

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 10 October 2022.

Ukrainians!

The morning is tough. We are dealing with terrorists.

Dozens of missiles, Iranian “Shaheds”. They have two targets.

Energy facilities throughout the country. Kyiv region and Khmelnytskyi region, Lviv and Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Zhytomyr region, Kirovohrad region, the south of the country.

They want panic and chaos, they want to destroy our energy system. They are incorrigible.

The second target is people.

Such a time and such goals were specially chosen to cause as much damage as possible.

But. We are Ukrainians. We help each other. We believe in ourselves. We restore everything destroyed.

There may be temporary power outages now, but there will never be an outage of our confidence – our confidence in victory.

Why such strikes exactly? The enemy wants us to be afraid, wants to make people run. But we can only run forward – and we demonstrate this on the battlefield. It will continue to be so.

Rescuers are working now. Our air defense system is working. 38 aerial targets have already been shot down.

Please stay in shelters today. Thanks to the help of our military, everything will be fine.

Always follow the safety rules. And always remember: Ukraine existed before this enemy appeared, and Ukraine will exist after it.

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 10 October 2022.

Today I want to address those in the world who give in to Russian manipulations about the alleged negotiations. About an assumption that it is supposedly only negotiations that can end this brutal Russian terrorist war.

Does the terrorist state want peace? Obviously not. It proves that every day and every night.

Zaporizhzhia. One of the Ukrainian cities against which Russia directs its missile terror.

At least 14 people died last night as a result of Russian strikes on ordinary residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia. Unfortunately, this number may increase. Debris is still being cleared. More than 70 people were injured, including 11 children. All of them are provided with proper aid.

Hundreds of families were left homeless. An entire block, from the first to the sixth floor, was destroyed by one of the missiles – a heavy anti-ship missile Kh-22 – aimed at an ordinary nine-story residential building.

It was a deliberate strike. The one who gave the order and those who carried it out knew what they were targeting.

The strikes this night continued a series of Russian missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia, which have killed at least 43 people since October 3 this week alone. And there were also strikes on Kharkiv, on the cities of Donbas, on other cities of Ukraine… There were also strikes by Iranian drones. Airstrikes. The absolute majority of them were aimed at the civil infrastructure of Ukraine and civilians.

When someone wants to negotiate, he does not do so. And when someone is a terrorist, that’s exactly what he does.

Do negotiations really help overcome terror? Now everyone has to answer this question honestly. Terrorists are neutralized.

Terrorism is a crime that must be punished. Terrorism at the state level is one of the most heinous international crimes, which threatens not just someone in the world, but the entire international community.

If terror goes unpunished, if the terrorist succeeds in intimidation so much that someone in the world is willing to simply turn a blind eye to terror, then that will be a loss – a loss of freedom, a loss of humanity and a loss of democracy. This is exactly what Russia longs for. This is why it needs all this terror – from missile strikes to global crises provoked by a terrorist state.

This has already happened in history. Last time another terrorist state was allowed to do what it wanted because the world powers were afraid of its terror, World War II started.

Now the world is united. Now everyone in the world understands what this war in Ukraine is actually being waged against by Russia. This is a Russian war against all those values that make people human and life peaceful.

Ukraine will win this war. We can liberate our entire land and we can put the terrorist state in place. Russia must be punished for terror. Only this guarantees that the confrontation will not grow to an even greater scale and will not spread to other countries.

But for this we must preserve the maximum unity – the unity of all the people of the world who value peace, respect the right to life for everyone and are honest enough to admit: the constant terror against the civilian population is an obvious Russian refusal to engage in real negotiations.

Therefore, official designation of Russia as a terrorist state is needed – designation at all levels.

It is necessary to limit any economic contacts with any Russian subjects – you cannot be a sponsor of terrorism.

We need a clear condemnation at all levels of every escalating step by Russia – from terrorist attacks to the criminal attempt to annex our territory. The relevant resolution will be considered by the UN General Assembly in a few days. We will see from the vote who and how treat terrorists in reality.

And Ukraine needs principled and sufficient aid. Aid to our people who are targeted by the terrorist state. It is necessary to accelerate the provision of a sufficient number of effective air defense systems to Ukraine. The negotiations on the provision of such air defense systems, the negotiations on increasing other defense, political and financial support for Ukraine are the only possible negotiation format that can really bring peace closer.

I am grateful to everyone who helps us resist terror!

I am grateful to everyone who fights and works for the return of peace to Ukraine and guarantees of the right to life and security to every Ukrainian.

Eternal memory to all victims of Russian terror!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 9 October 2022.

Dear Ukrainians!

Today was a good and mostly sunny day on the territory of our state. It was about 20 degrees and sunny in large parts of the country.

Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea. Although it is also warm. But no matter what the clouds are, Ukrainians know what to do. And they know that our future is sunny.

This is a future without occupiers. Throughout our territory, in particular in Crimea.

If the occupiers flee while they have a chance, this will be the best option for them. If they are forced to stay, any occupier can find a way to surrender to Ukrainian captivity.

We guarantee the preservation of lives to all Russian military servicemen who voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender.
Ukraine always adheres to all international norms and conventions.

We will not leave any other options for the occupiers to rely on.

And again and again I want to thank all our citizens who are fighting and working for peace for Ukraine, for the liberation of our entire land.

This day, the movement of our military, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Guard and all those who take part in active actions – actions in the east, actions in the south of our country – continued.

We are holding positions in Donbas, in particular in the Bakhmut direction, where now it is very, very hard, very tough fighting. Today, I would like to once again mention our soldiers from the Kholodny Yar 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade for their courage and sustained power in this direction.

Thanks to all our anti-aircraft gunners and everyone involved in the air defense of Ukraine.

We are doing everything we can to defend Ukrainian skies, and it is one of the highest priorities for our diplomats to speed up the decision of our partners to provide Ukraine with modern and effective anti-aircraft systems in sufficient quantity.

We will definitely come to that.

In the de-occupied territories, we do not slow down the pace of reconstruction work for a single day. It’s transport, it’s electricity, it’s gas supply, it’s postal services, social benefits – wherever there is a real possibility to provide it, we provide it.

I must ask all Ukrainians in the territory where the occupiers were to be especially attentive to the mine threat.

Our explosive ordnance disposal teams, our bomb disposal engineers are working at their maximum, but after the occupiers, a very large area is contaminated with mines. Please do not ignore mine warnings, do not visit areas closed due to danger, please report any mines or unexploded ordnance found to the police, emergency services or local authorities.

And I want to add one more thing.

Lawyer’s Day is celebrated in Ukraine today. Not everyone who has a law degree works in law. But among those who still work in this field, there are people whose contribution is truly historic. Very important.

Those who investigate into the crimes of the occupiers. Those who help to restore justice, in particular by working in the field of human rights. Those who do everything so that every Russian murderer and the aggressor state itself are inevitably punished for this war. I thank all of you for this very important work!

I’m thankful to investigators, prosecutors, human rights defenders, lawyers, civil servants, and employees of public organizations.
I’m thankful to everyone who teaches law, fights for the rule of law and helps people defend their rights, freedoms and legitimate interests.

Justice for Ukraine, for Europe, for the world must and will be restored. Thanks to our indomitable, strong, conscientious and educated people.

Eternal glory to all who defend Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 8 October 2022.

Dear Ukrainians!

An important decision was made today. It’s fair. Legally perfect. Historical.

Ukraine confirmed its respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Japan, including its Northern territories, which are still under Russian occupation.

Today, I signed the relevant decree. There is a corresponding statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. And we call on everyone in the world to make similar decisions.

Russia has no right to these territories. Everyone in the world knows this well. And we must finally act.

We must de-occupy all the lands that the Russian occupiers are trying to keep for themselves.

Only in this way can we return the full force to international law. The UN Charter and the entire complex of treaties and conventions on which the international legal order is based will work only when the occupiers lose and the nations in the world are protected from any occupations.

With this war against Ukraine, against the international legal order, against our people, Russia has put itself in conditions – and it is now only a matter of time – of the real liberation of everything that once was seized and is now under the control of the Kremlin.

Russia, by its example, will show all potential aggressors of the world that an aggressive terrorist war in our time is a way to weaken and inevitably destroy the one who starts such a war.

The aggressor must lose. So be it. So that such wars do not happen again and that the peace is really long-term. Nothing should be left for the invaders.

I believe: justice will be restored for our partners as well.

This week alone, our soldiers liberated 776 square kilometers of territory in the east of our country and 29 settlements, including six in Luhansk region, from the Russian pseudo-referendum. In total, 2,434 square kilometers of our land and 96 settlements have already been liberated since the beginning of this offensive operation.

And today I want to mention the fighters of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, the 80th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade and the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade and note their heroic efforts to liberate Ukrainian land.

There are also good results in the south of Ukraine this week – we are liberating our land and our people there from the pseudo-referendum every day.

We will certainly come to the lands that were occupied by Russia earlier.

I’m thankful to all our defenders who ensure this!

During these 225 days, 29,887 Ukrainian soldiers were awarded state awards. A total of 178 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Such a scale of courage and heroism of our fighters unequivocally proves that Ukraine cannot be stopped.

And each of the Russian attacks, all manifestations of Russian terror – against Zaporizhzhia, against Kharkiv, against Mykolaiv, against Donbas and all our other territories – only prove that the liberation of our entire land is the only foundation of peace and security for all Ukrainians.

Today, I took part in the meeting of the European Council. I thanked our partners for the eighth package of sanctions against Russia and for all the support for Ukraine that is already provided.

We are working together to increase our common capabilities – of everyone in Europe.

Preparations have already begun for important events planned for next week, both in Ukraine and at the international level.

It will be a strong week for our state, it will be a strong week for our defense.

Eternal glory to all those who fight and work for peace for Ukraine!

Eternal glory to our heroes!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 7 October 2022.

Ukrainians!

Today is the day of active diplomacy. We inform our partners about the latest manifestations of Russian terror. About missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia and other cities of Ukraine. About the use of Iranian drones against our people and infrastructure.

For some reason, Iran claims that there are no Iranian-made drones in Ukraine. People see them in the sky. We shoot them down. But we are told that there are allegedly no Iranian drones in Ukraine. Well, we’ll find ways to ensure that there aren’t any left indeed.

We also provide information about our movement on the frontline. Since October 1, more than half a thousand square kilometers of territory and dozens of settlements have been liberated from the Russian sham referendum and stabilized only in the Kherson region.

There are also successes in the eastern direction. The day will surely come when we will report on successes in the Zaporizhzhia region as well – in those areas that are still under the control of the occupiers. The day will come when we will also talk about the liberation of Crimea.

This perspective is obvious. It is also obvious that there is still some way to go. There is still a lot to endure, a lot to do. Both for Ukrainians and for our partners – all who value freedom and international law.

I’ve talked today with representatives of political, business and expert circles of Australia. I felt full support and interest in our victory. By the way, Australia is among the top 10 countries that provide us with defense aid. This is a very significant contribution to the protection of our state, the international legal order and humanity as such.

I’ve addressed the European leaders at the summit of the European Political Community held today in Prague. I called on them to do everything so that this new format of our cooperation in Europe, which unites different states: from Iceland to Azerbaijan, from Spain to Turkey, could become not just a gathering of politicians, but a gathering of peacemakers. Europe needs a community of those who know how to protect peace and put any terrorists in their place.

These days, the European Union is moving towards the introduction of the eighth package of sanctions against Russia. In particular, this package envisages limiting the sea transportation of Russian oil and creates a toolkit to limit the oil revenues of the terrorist state. This is good. But this is only the beginning.

We must ensure that the terrorist state does not receive any profit from the sale of oil and gas. So that not a single oil dollar and not a single gas euro could go to the continuation of the Russian war against Ukraine and the entire civilized world. I am confident that it will be ensured in due time.

And I thank all Europeans, all in the free world, who work for this result. Who promote the necessary political decisions and who create the necessary economic alternatives to Russian energy resources.

I will continue working in this direction tomorrow. I will address the participants of the meeting of the European Council.

Today in Kyiv I met with Samantha Power, head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). We discussed the existing and prospective programs of our cooperation, the implementation of our plan for the rapid reconstruction of Ukraine. The main focus of these programs is security. And we will soon introduce this new security approach to our civil infrastructure to the public.

I thanked Mrs. Power for allocating funds to prepare our infrastructure for the winter period, in particular heating.

I held a meeting today with IAEA Head Grossi, who arrived in Kyiv. It is clear that our negotiations primarily concerned the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant captured by Russian terrorists. But in fact, this topic is much broader. It concerns not only Ukraine and not only in the context of radiation safety.

Of course, any decisions of the current head of Russia regarding the Zaporizhzhia station and any attempts by Russia to transfer the station to its alleged ownership are worthless and, frankly speaking, stupid. This is a nuclear power plant. This is not some palace, Yukos or something else that the Russian leadership has already managed to steal.

Only Ukrainian specialists can guarantee that there will be no radiation incidents at the Zaporizhzhia station. And it was important to hear from Mr. Grossi that the international community will only contact Ukraine regarding the ZNPP, because it is Ukrainian property. Was, is and will be.

Now there are about five hundred occupiers at the station. And this is nothing but five hundred risks of disaster. The world understands this. And I am grateful for the support of everyone who is fighting for the return of full Ukrainian control over the station and for its complete demilitarization.

Another aspect of this topic is electricity itself. And if the Zaporizhzhia station is not working, we in Ukraine face certain difficulties. We are getting a situation where we do not have a surplus of electricity, which we can, in particular, export to EU countries.

This is a disadvantage for the people of the EU, who lose a reliable source of energy supply. This is a disadvantage for us, Ukrainians. We are honest about it. We say honestly that all of us in Europe must fight for our interests together – in complete unity.

I thank everyone who helps Ukraine!

I thank everyone who fights and works for our victory!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, on 6 October 2022.

Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!

I held a meeting of the Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief today. The main item on the agenda is our movement towards the liberation of all Ukrainian land and everything that is necessary for the implementation of our defense operation. The supply of weapons and ammunition, interaction with partners, material provision, countering new types of weapons that the occupiers have…

Of course, I cannot disclose specific issues that were discussed by the Staff. But most of the reports, accepted reports and approved plans will definitely please Ukrainians. And they will definitely upset the occupiers.

Because they will be responsible for all their evil. They will be responsible before our weapons, the Ukrainian court and international law. None of them will avoid it.

By the way, today I want to celebrate the personnel of the operative-strategic group “Oleksandriya” for creating conditions for a successful offensive, for planning and preparing active actions in the Kherson region. Those of our actions that already yield a tangible result. And there will be more.

Only during this day in the Kherson region, such settlements as Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka were liberated from the sham referendum and stabilized. The movement continues.

I also want to celebrate the warriors of our Air Forces, who today managed to shoot down six Iranian-made drones that the occupiers tried to use against our cities. Three drones were shot down by anti-aircraft troops of the 302nd anti-aircraft missile Kharkiv regiment, and three more were shot down by our fighter pilots from the 204th Sevastopol tactical aviation brigade. Thanks for the precision, guys!

And now I will address the occupiers.

Even if you find some other weapon somewhere in the world with the same “natural” name for your “Russian world”, like these Iranian “Shahed”, with which you are trying to bomb our cities, such as Bila Tserkva… It won’t help you anyway. You have already lost.

You’ve lost because even now, on the 224th day of the full-scale war, you have to explain to your society why all this is needed: this war, the false mobilization and self-destruction of all the prospects of your people.

When people feel they are right and when they are on their own land, they themselves know everything. They do not need fanatic lectures on “alternative history” and political information sessions every day – either at a meeting with teachers, or at a meeting about the progress of seasonal harvesting work.

Ukrainians know what they are fighting for. And more and more citizens of Russia are realizing that they must die simply because one person does not want to end the war.

It’s obvious who will win.

Today in Lyman, Sviatohirsk and Yarova of the Donetsk region, another sign of the return to normal life was added – we resumed the payment of pensions there. We also provide food kits and humanitarian aid. The return of the Ukrainian flag means that a peaceful and socially secure life is once again possible for Donbas and all other territories that were temporarily occupied by Russia.

Today, we have several events that strongly confirm the world’s faith in the future of Ukraine, the world’s trust in our strength.

First, we are starting Ukraine’s accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It is one of the most prestigious global organizations, it unites 38 strongest states. These are democracies, these are market economies, this is the majority of the world’s economic potential. From Austria to Japan, from the United States of America to South Korea, from Canada to Türkiye. Ukraine will be among them in this format as well.

We submitted our application for admission, it was endorsed by the Organization. Ukraine received the special status of the acceding country. And we will fulfill all the necessary conditions for full membership.

And already this year, the regional office of the Organization will start working in Kyiv. For us, this will mean another powerful line of economic, technological and value cooperation with the global community.

The second event: together with our friends – Spain and Portugal – we submit a bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

This is our joint bid. The chances of its success are quite high. And it’s not just that our countries meet the criteria that must be complied with in order to gain the right to host the championship. The point is also that it will be very symbolic when three countries of the European Union: Spain, Portugal and Ukraine, will be able to hold the World Cup together.

I spoke today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. A very positive conversation. I thanked him for his support. We coordinated our next joint steps and interaction.

I had a very substantive meeting in the afternoon regarding our preparations for the winter season.

We are fully aware of all risks. And we know that the occupiers are also… preparing for winter.

At all levels of government, scenarios are being worked out to protect people. We speak honestly: winter will be difficult. But in order to endure it, we accumulate gas, coal and everything else that is necessary. We are working to be ready.

And it is important that our partners approach this period with the same preparedness.

The more we do together now to bring peace closer, the more we cooperate and put pressure on Russia, the safer this winter can be for all of us in Europe.

I will talk about this in particular tomorrow in my speech at the first summit of the European political community, which will be held in Prague.

In addition, tomorrow I will speak with representatives of one of the most esteemed think tanks in the English-speaking world – the Lowy Institute in Australia.

There will be other diplomatic activities.

I thank everyone who fights and works for our victory!

I thank everyone who helps Ukraine and puts pressure on Russia for peace!

We will definitely win.

Glory to Ukraine!