Tag: 2022

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

Strong people of the indomitable country!

The 23rd day of our patriotic war continues. After eight years of war in the east.

The occupiers do not stop burning their national wealth in the war against Ukraine.

I am confident that by attacking us, they will destroy everything that Russian society has achieved over the past 25 years. And they will return to where they once began to rise from, as they say, to the “the wicked 90’s”. But without freedom, without the creative desire of millions of people to work for the development of their state.

This will be the price of war against Ukraine for Russia.

It will be a fall for them, a painful fall. And they will feel it even in spite of the “opium for the people” from television propagandists.

Unjust and aggressive war always has a high price for the aggressor.

But no matter what happens to them, it cannot comfort us. It will not resurrect our dead people. It will not restore our cities. It will not heal the emotional wound that will stay with us forever.

We will rebuild everything – I have no doubt about that. We will become a full member of the EU – each representative of our state works for this 24/7.

But life will be different, and for many – without the thousands of hearts stopped by this war.

May the memory of everyone who gave life for Ukraine live forever!

Russian troops have continued treacherous shelling of our peaceful cities and our communities. Lviv, Kyiv and the region, Zhytomyr region, Sumy region, Kharkiv and the region, Chernihiv, cities of Donbas – Severodonetsk, Kramatorsk, our Mariupol… Missile strikes, air bombs, “Grads”.

We are shooting down Russian missiles as much as we can. We are destroying their planes and helicopters. And this despite the fact that we do not yet have adequate anti-missile weapons. Advanced weapons. We do not have enough combat aircraft. But we have a goal, pure and fair – to protect our people, our state.

Undoubtedly, we will continue to do everything we can. We will remind some Western leaders even louder that this will be a moral defeat for them, it will destroy their prestige if Ukraine does not receive advanced weapons that will really save the lives of thousands of our people.

Russian missiles will not fall from shotguns, which some are trying to replace really useful supplies with.

Today is a busy day of negotiations for me. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. Charles Michel, President of the European Council. Ukraine’s great friend, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Johnson.

The subject is clear. First, these are concrete steps that will give Ukraine even more strength, not only directly for the defense, but also for the economy. For our people, for Ukrainians who really defend Europe. Here and now. On our land.

President Ursula von der Leyen has promised to do everything possible to speed up Ukraine’s accession to the EU. We reduce bureaucratic processes for our state, which usually take years, to weeks, to months. It’s not easy, but we do it. I am sure.

We also agreed on the EU’s support for Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes due to the war. For those who are abroad and within our state.

We agreed on a new macro-financial aid – another 300 million euros for Ukraine. In addition to those on which a decision has already been made.

Secondly, we are discussing the next package of sanctions against Russia. Significant enough. To make them feel that every missile against our state, every bomb, every shot has its price. For the Russian budget, for Russian companies, for Russian ambitions and for specific people who represent the Russian government.

And until there is peace for Ukraine, sanctions against Russia must grow steadily.

I am grateful to all public initiatives from around the world that offer restrictions for Russia not only at the state level, but also at the level of societies. In particular, I am grateful to the Swedish Port Workers’ Union, which promises not to service vessels connected with Russia. This is right. This is a good example for all public structures, all trade unions and business associations to follow.

If Russia is not stopped now, if Russia is not punished now, other aggressors in the world will start other wars. In different regions of the world. On different continents. Wherever a state dreams of conquering its neighbors.

We need to act now so that all other potential aggressors see that war is only a loss and no benefit.

That is why it is necessary for all Europeans to block ports for all Russian ships. So that all Russian commercial vessels follow the Russian warship.

It is necessary that all Western companies leave the Russian market and not cover with cheap PR their thirst for profit despite blood, despite war crimes. Like Nestle or Auchan for example.

To date, humanitarian corridors in the Sumy, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions have been agreed upon. Sumy, Konotop, Trostyanets, Lebedyn, Krasnopillya, Velyka Pysarivka. It is especially difficult from the besieged Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia. The occupiers are doing everything to complicate the movement of people and prevent Ukrainian humanitarian cargo from entering the city. This is outright terror. But we try, we do our best. More than 35,000 people have already been rescued from Mariupol.

Rescue work is underway at the site of the bombing by the occupiers of the theater where Mariupol residents hid from shelling, used it as a shelter.

It is known that as of now, more than 130 people were rescued. But hundreds of Mariupol residents are still under the debris. Despite the shelling, despite all the difficulties, we will continue rescue work.

The situation in the Kharkiv region is very difficult. The occupiers do not stop trying to destroy our city of Izyum. People in Balakliya are being tortured. Our team is doing everything to organize a working humanitarian corridor to these cities and deliver food, water and medicine.

I instructed the Cabinet of Ministers, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada to develop a format of decisions that will speed up the supply of all necessary goods from abroad.

This is especially topical for food, fuel and other goods that meet the basic needs of society.

War is not a time for bureaucrats and careerists from different departments to complicate the provision of goods for people. We want to simplify the passage of goods that Ukrainians need now through customs as much as possible.

If this requires the removal of taxes and excises during martial law, we are ready to do so. If it is necessary to remove customs officers who do not understand the tasks of wartime to act quickly, we will do so.

Our borders must be open to everything Ukrainians need. I am waiting for the appropriate decisions by the end of the day. And then – the support from people’s deputies.

Because now everyone has to work only for Ukrainians, only for our state, for defense. Not for ambitions. Not for fear. Not for bureaucracy.

Everything is for the protection of Ukraine!

Today I signed a decree on the awarding of state awards to 138 servicemen of the Armed Forces. In particular, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the II degree is awarded to:

Syrskyi Oleksandr Stanislavovych, Commander of the Land Forces. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he has been leading the defense of Kyiv. Thanks to his professional and courageous actions, the enemy suffered significant losses and was driven away from the capital. During the defense of Kyiv, more than 30 settlements in the Kyiv region, which were temporarily occupied by the enemy, were liberated.

Major Mazurok Taras Leonidovych, commander of the tank battalion. Defending the Donetsk region, he inflicted significant losses on the enemy and significantly stopped his advance.

Sergeant Nutsa Ruslana Vasylivna was awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree. Senior combat medic. She personally took part in the evacuation of the wounded from Vodyane, Shyrokyne and Mariupol. Thanks to her actions, 31 of our defenders were saved. She continues to perform tasks in Mariupol.

Glory to all our heroes!

Glory to Ukraine!

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

Great people of a great country!

The 22nd day of our struggle, our defense against one of the world’s largest armies is over. Which we make smaller every day. Every day. But it still has numbers, equipment and reserves.

We have information that the Russian military is recruiting mercenaries from other countries, trying to deceive as many young people as possible into military service.

We know that this will not help them.

So now I warn everyone who will try to join the occupiers on our Ukrainian land. This will be the worst decision of your life.

Long life is better than the money you are offered for a short one.

Our courageous defenders continue to hold all the key areas that the enemy is pressing. And respond to every attack. To every blow of the occupiers to our peaceful cities, to our people. New Russian conscripts have been taken prisoner.

Among them are those who refuse to return to Russia. And there are many who are not even mentioned in Russia. They don’t even try to take them back.

Their death notifications have been sent to their families although they are in captivity and alive.

All Russians who can hear me now, speak about it. Tell it in Russia.

Every mother who knows that her son was sent to war against Ukraine must check where her son is. And especially those who cannot contact their children, who have been told that their children had been killed. And who didn’t receive the bodies. There are phone numbers on the Internet that you can call and find out what is really happening to your children.

We did not plan to take thousands of prisoners. We do not need 13 or any number of thousands of dead Russian soldiers. We do not need it. We didn’t want this war. We only want peace. And we want you to love your children more than you fear your authorities.

I addressed the parliament of Germany today. One of the most influential countries in the world. In Europe. One of the natural leaders of the European continent.

I spoke not just as President, but as a Ukrainian citizen. As a European. As someone who has felt for many years that the German state seems to have fenced itself off us with a wall. Invisible yet solid wall.

We have seen Germany fight for the economy for decades. For new Russian gas pipelines and old European dreams. Dreams of some kind of cooperation that Russia has not taken seriously for a long time.

We see that the views of the Germans are changing. And this is very important. We see Germany looking for a new path. We see how sincerely the majority of Germans stand in favor of revising the old policy.

We see that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has a great chance, a great mission – to give Germany a renewed leadership. Give Europe peace. Long-lasting and most importantly – fair. One that guarantees security to every state in Europe and Ukraine in the first place. And I sincerely wish Chancellor Scholz from all Ukrainians, from all Europeans that Germany and its partners succeed in carrying out this mission.

I will continue such speeches in the parliaments and squares of the partner states. Necessarily. As much as it takes to stop the war. To restore our territorial integrity. To return to all of us, Ukrainians and all Europeans, the long-awaited peace.

I feel that we are being increasingly understood. In Europe, in the world, in different countries. And it gives us more and more support. The one we have been asking for for so long.

I spoke with French President Macron. We are strengthening the defense of Ukraine. We coordinated our joint steps towards peace. I’m grateful for that.

I am also grateful to President Biden for his new and effective support for our country. Please, understand: I can’t reveal all the details of this support package and others to you. Because this is our tactic. Our defense. When the enemy does not know what to expect from us. Just as they did not know what would await them after February 24. Didn’t know what we had for the defense and how we were preparing to face the attack.

The occupiers thought they were going to Ukraine, which they had seen before, in 2014-2015. Which they constantly corrupted and which they were not afraid of. But we are different.

And this allows us to defend ourselves against a full-scale strike for 22 days already. Everything we have done in a few years. For our defense. For our tactics. For defense tactics, which is not the time to reveal while the war is going on.

It is not the time to reveal our tactics of negotiations as well. Negotiations for peace, sovereignty, territorial integrity of our state, our freedom. Working more in silence than on television, radio or Facebook. I think this is right.

Today I visited the wonderful Vlasenko family from Vorzel, Kyiv region, at the hospital.

Escaping, they got under Russian shelling. The eldest daughter, Katya, who is only 16 years old, covered her brother Ihor, who is 8. The brother got out of the car and cursed the occupiers. Tetiana, mother, received shrapnel wounds. The father carried his daughter in his arms.

Thank God they all survived. Because they stayed together, as a family, and defended each other. I was really moved to talk to them. Probably the most during this war. I sincerely wish health and happiness to this family, the Vlasenko family. Like all other families. I wish you peace and work for it.

Also today, I awarded five employees of the State Emergency Service with the Order of Courage. Everyone is a hero. Everyone was awarded for selfless actions, for dedication with which they save all of us, save Ukrainians.

And some more news, very important and, of course, positive. About our economy. About how we bring our country back to life. Right now, wherever security allows. Wherever business can run.

Our government has already prepared a decision to expand the lending program for entrepreneurs on the basis of the program “5-7-9%” creating a new opportunity. Any business will be able to get a loan at 0%. For the time of martial law plus 1 month after the war.

Then there will be a minimum rate of 5%. And the total loan amount can be up to 60 million hryvnias. So that a wider range of businesses can take advantage of our program.

The second news is that the Cabinet of Ministers will vote tomorrow for a large-scale reduction of regulations.

There were more than 600 permits and licenses for business, and about 20 remain mandatory. Only those that simply cannot be revoked. For example, radioactive waste management.

So, for the vast majority of businesses in Ukraine, the declarative principle will work: you have announced the start of business and you work freely.

And the third news, which concerns millions of Ukrainians. This is a special task for the National Bank of Ukraine, for people’s deputies and our government officials.

I instructed to find such a legislative opportunity for the state to guarantee 100% of deposits in Ukrainian banks. 100%. Not part, as now, as always, but 100%.

The whole deposit. In any bank of our state. So that people do not lose money and are not afraid of it under any circumstances.

So I’m waiting for specifics. Draft decision. And I hope that the Verkhovna Rada will not delay the support.

Because Ukrainians need it. Ukraine needs this.

And finally.

Our Mariupol, our Kharkiv, our Chernihiv, Kyiv region, Izyum and all our hero cities. Which are in a very difficult situation. Extremely difficult.

We are doing everything. All of us. Absolutely.

Our army, police, SES, humanitarian convoys, church… All our people.

We will not leave you. And we will not forgive them.

You will be free. Definitely. I know it. Like all of us on our land.

Glory to all our heroes!

Glory to Ukraine!

The statement made by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, to the German Bundestag on 17 March 2022.

Dear President Göring-Eckardt.

Dear Mr. Scholz.

Dear ladies and gentlemen, deputies, guests, journalists.

German people!

I am addressing you after three weeks of full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, after eight years of war in the east of my country, in Donbas.

I appeal to you when Russia is bombing our cities, destroying everything in Ukraine. Everything – houses, hospitals, schools, churches. Using missiles, air bombs, rocket artillery.

Thousands of Ukrainians died in three weeks. The occupiers killed 108 children. In the middle of Europe, in our country, in 2022.

I am addressing you after numerous meetings, negotiations, statements and requests. After steps in support, some of which are overdue. After sanctions, which are obviously not enough to stop this war. And after we saw how many ties your companies still have with Russia. With a state that just uses you and some other countries to finance the war.

During the three weeks of war for our lives, for our freedom, we became convinced of what we had felt before. And what you probably do not all notice yet.

You are like behind the wall again. Not the Berlin Wall. But in the middle of Europe. Between freedom and slavery. And this wall grows stronger with each bomb that falls on our land, on Ukraine. With every decision that is not made for the sake of peace. Not approved by you, although it may help.

When did it happen?

Dear politicians.

Dear German people.

Why is this possible? When we told you that Nord Stream was a weapon and a preparation for a great war, we heard in response that it was an economy after all. Economy. Economy. But it was cement for a new wall.

When we asked you what Ukraine needs to do to become a member of NATO, to be safe, to receive security guarantees, we heard the answer: such a decision is not on the table yet and will not be in the near future. Just as the chair for us at this table. Just as you are still delaying the issue of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. Frankly, for some it is politics. The truth is that it is stones. Stones for a new wall.

When we asked for preventive sanctions, we appealed to Europe, we appealed to many countries. We turned to you. Sanctions for the aggressor to feel that you are a force. We saw delays. We felt resistance. We understood that you want to continue the economy. Economy. Economy.

And now the trade routes between you and the country that has once again brought a brutal war to Europe are barbed wire over the wall. Over the new wall that divides Europe.

And you don’t see what’s behind this wall, and it’s between us, between people in Europe. And because of this, not everyone is fully aware of what we are going through today.

I am addressing you on behalf of Ukrainians, I am addressing you on behalf of Mariupol residents – civilians of a city that Russian troops have blocked and razed to the ground. They just destroy everything there. Everything and everyone who is there. Hundreds of thousands of people are under shelling around the clock. No food, 24 hours a day without water, no electricity, 24 hours a day without communication. For weeks.

Russian troops do not distinguish between civilians and military. They don’t care where civilian objects are, everything is considered a target.

A theater that was a shelter for hundreds of people and was blown up yesterday, a maternity hospital, a children’s hospital, residential areas without any military facilities – they are destroying everything. Round the clock. And they do not let any humanitarian cargo into our blocked city. For five days, Russian troops have not stopped the shelling specifically to prevent the rescue of our people.

You can see it all. If you climb over this Wall.

If you remember what the Berlin Airlift meant to you. Which could be realized because the sky was safe. You were not killed from the sky as now in our country, when we cannot even make an airlift! When the sky gives only Russian missiles and air bombs.

I am addressing you on behalf of older Ukrainians. Many survivors of World War II. Those who escaped during the occupation 80 years ago. Those who survived Babyn Yar.

Babyn Yar that President Steinmeier visited last year. On the 80th anniversary of the tragedy. And that was hit by Russian missiles now. It is exactly this place that was hit. And the missile strike killed the family that went to Babyn Yar, to the monument. Killed again, 80 years after.

I appeal to you on behalf of everyone who has heard politicians say: “Never again.” And who saw that these words are worthless. Because again in Europe they are trying to destroy the whole nation. Destroy everything we live by and live for.

I am addressing you on behalf of our military. Those who defend our state, and therefore the values that are often talked about everywhere in Europe, everywhere – and in Germany as well.

Freedom and equality. Opportunity to live freely, not to submit to another state, which considers a foreign land its “living space”. Why are they defending all this without your leadership? Without your strength? Why are overseas states closer to us than you are?

Because this is the Wall. The wall that someone doesn’t notice and that we are hammering on while fighting to save our people.

Ladies and Gentlemen!

German people!

I am grateful to everyone who supports us. I am grateful to you. Ordinary Germans who sincerely help Ukrainians on your land. To journalists who do their job honestly, showing all the evil that Russia has brought to us. I am grateful to the German businessmen who put morality and humanity above accounting. Above the economy. Economy. Economy. And I am grateful to the politicians who are still trying… Trying to break this Wall. Who choose life between Russian money and the deaths of Ukrainian children. Who support the strengthening of sanctions against Russia that can guarantee peace. Peace to Ukraine. Peace to Europe. Who do not hesitate to disconnect Russia from SWIFT.

Who know that an embargo on trade with Russia is needed. On imports of everything that sponsors this war. Who know that Ukraine will be in the European Union. Because Ukraine is already more Europe than many others.

I am grateful to everyone who is taller than any wall. And who knows that the stronger one bears more responsibility when it comes to saving people.

It is difficult for us to endure without the help of the world, without your help. It is difficult to defend Ukraine, Europe without what you can do. So that you don’t look over your shoulder even after this war. After the destruction of Kharkiv… For the second time in 80 years. After the bombing of Chernihiv, Sumy and Donbas. For the second time in 80 years. After thousands of people tortured and killed. For the second time in 80 years. Otherwise, what is the historical responsibility to the Ukrainian people still not redeemed for what happened 80 years ago?

And now – so that a new one does not appear, behind the new Wall, which will again demand redemption.

I appeal to you and remind you of what is needed. The things without which Europe will not survive and will not preserve its values.

Former actor, President of the United States Ronald Reagan once said in Berlin: Tear down this wall!

And I want to tell you now.

Chancellor Scholz! Tear down this wall.

Give Germany the leadership you deserve. And what your descendants will be proud of.

Support us.

Support peace.

Support every Ukrainian.

Stop the war.

Help us stop it.

Glory to Ukraine!

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

Wise people of a strong country!

We have finally managed to release the mayor of Melitopol from captivity. Our Ukrainian Melitopol, which did not submit and will not submit to the occupiers. Ivan Fedorov is free. I talked to him today. The Russian military abducted him on March 11, trying to persuade him to collaborate. But our man withstood. He did not give up. Just as we all endure. You all. Just as we all do not give up. Because we are Ukrainians. And we always protect our own.

Today a protest action took place in Berdyansk again. Protest against the occupiers from the Russian Federation. Thousands of brave civilians came out against the armed Russian military. And they told them everything, everything they deserve. It is very important.

I know it’s hard. But it is also important that what they heard from our people, including in Russian, is clear and unambiguous: occupiers, go home.

There is still such an opportunity. Every soldier thrown into the territory of our country has such an opportunity. Everyone who has not yet been killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

Russian troops suffer such losses in Ukraine, which were inflicted neither in Syria, nor in Chechnya. Neither did the Soviet troops suffer such losses in Afghanistan. If your war, the war against the Ukrainian people, continues, the mothers of Russia will lose more children than in the Afghan and Chechen wars combined. What’s the point of it?

Every Russian soldier who lays down weapons will get a chance, a chance to survive.

I appeal specifically to the conscripts who were thrown into the furnace of this war. Not your war. And to the rest of the Russian soldiers who still have the instinct of self-preservation.

Lay down your weapons. It’s better than dying on the battlefield, on our land.

Unfortunately, the humanitarian corridors did not work on Wednesday. The Russian military did not stop shelling, did not guarantee security.

We are ready to ensure silence. We are ready to take people out and send humanitarian aid. But we can’t expose people to shelling on the road. Understand us. Expose to the fact that for the Russian military there is no such war crime, which they would not commit.

We are taking away Mariupol residents who managed to escape to Berdyansk… We are taking them to Zaporizhzhia. In total, more than 6,000 Mariupol residents were transported in one day, more than 2,000 of them are children.

The Russian military tried to disrupt this movement as well. They opened mortar fire on the section of the road between Vasylivka and Kamyanske in the Zaporizhzhia region. Only by a miracle there were no casualties. Five Ukrainians were wounded, including two children.

In Chernihiv, the occupiers fired at civilians who were simply standing in line for bread. Imagine. Ten dead people.

In Mariupol, in besieged Mariupol, Russian aircraft purposefully dropped a huge bomb on the Drama Theater in the city center. Hundreds of people were hiding from the shelling there… The building was destroyed. The death toll is still unknown. Our hearts are broken by what Russia is doing to our people. To our Mariupol. To the Donetsk region…

Citizens of Russia! How is your blockade of Mariupol different from the blockade of Leningrad during World War II? Who do you inherit?

We will not forget anyone whose lives were taken by the occupiers. We will not forgive any murdered soul. Eternal memory to all victims of this terror! To all the victims of the war unleashed by the Russian state.

What else do the occupiers have to do, how many more people do they have to kill in order for Western leaders, NATO leaders to respond positively to Ukraine’s request for a no-fly zone or for providing our country with the aircraft we so desperately need?

I spoke about this today in a speech to the United States Congress.

Ukraine has received strong support from our American friends. And I’m grateful to President Biden for that. I am grateful for the leadership that has united the democratic world.

But the war does not end. Russia’s war crimes do not stop. The Russian economy is still able to maintain their military machine. That is why new packages of sanctions against Russia are needed. The world must finally officially recognize that Russia has become a terrorist state.

And most importantly, Ukraine needs to get more support. Even more than we get now. Air defense systems. Aircraft. Enough lethal weapons and ammunition to stop the Russian occupiers.

It was in this speech in Congress that I addressed both the United States and all the relevant states as regards creating a new U-24 union.

A new alliance that will ensure that each aggressor receives a coordinated response from the world. Fast and efficient. Immediately. Not in weeks, months, years, but in the first 24 hours after the attack.

We can no longer trust the existing institutions. We cannot expect bureaucrats in international organizations to change so quickly. Therefore, we must look for new guarantees. Create new tools. Take those who have courage and do what justice requires. We have already proved that we can do historical things. This is not just our resistance. Not just defense.

Even at this time – the biggest test for Ukraine – we managed to join the European energy network. Now Ukraine can use electricity flows from the European Union. We have been moving towards this for decades. It finally happened! I am grateful to all the power engineers of our country, to all those who worked for this result.

We are already working on programs to restore our country after the war.

I promise everyone, every Ukrainian who has lost home, who has lost an apartment as a result of hostilities or shelling that the state will restore everything. Restore independently.

I am confident that we will be able to rebuild our state quickly. Whatever the damage may be… It will be a historic reconstruction. A project that will inspire the world just as our struggle for our freedom. Just as our struggle for our Ukraine.

During the day I spoke with friends of Ukraine – President of Turkey Erdoğan and Prime Minister of Canada Trudeau. I thanked them for their support. We agreed on new steps for the sake of peace for our country.

In a conversation with the Prime Minister of Ireland, I expressed condolences over the murder by the Russian military of an Irish citizen – journalist Pierre Zakrzewski.

I also spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. We agreed on the support for our citizens – temporary displaced persons.

I will address the German Parliament on Thursday morning. I will continue to fight for even greater support for Ukraine, for even greater pressure on Russia. For the sake of our common victory, for the sake of peace for us.

For the sake of peace for us, the Ukrainian delegation speaks with the Russian delegation. And I want all our citizens, citizens of Ukraine, to hear me now.

Negotiations are ongoing. Negotiations for the sake of Ukraine.

My priorities in the negotiations are absolutely clear: the end of the war, security guarantees, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country.

Glory to all our heroes!

Glory to Ukraine!