LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country on Tuesday, telling compatriots in a statement, “We have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood.”
The fifth year of Russia’s war — the full-scale portion of which began in 2022 building on its 2014 invasions of Crimea and the eastern Donbas region — begins with tortuous U.S.-led peace talks ongoing, but a settlement seemingly still far away.
Meanwhile, fierce fighting all along the 750-mile front and long-range attacks continue unabated.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched 133 drones and one ballistic missile into the country overnight, of which 111 drones were shot down or suppressed. The missile and 19 drones impacted across 16 locations, the air force said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed at least 97 Ukrainian drones overnight.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy placed flowers at the national memorial near the wall of the St. Michael’s Monastery, in the center of Kyiv. He then attended a service at the nearby Saint Sophia Cathedral.
In his statement, Zelenskyy lauded the resolve and bravery of the Ukrainian people, recalling his initial reaction to Russia’s full-scale invasion in the early hours of Feb. 24, 2022. His video statement also included footage of the bunker from which he worked at the beginning of the war.
“Our people did not raise a white flag — they defended the blue and yellow one. And the occupiers, who thought they would be met here with crowds waving flowers, saw lines at the recruitment centers instead,” the Ukrainian president said.
Zelenskyy ran through a timeline of the war to date, touching on Ukraine’s most famous battlefield victories and noting a litany of alleged Russian war crimes. He assured citizens, “We will do more, because Russia does not stop, unfortunately, and wages war by every method — against peace, against us, against people.”
“Putin understands he is not capable of defeating Ukraine on the battlefield, and the ‘second army in the world’ is fighting against apartment buildings and power plants,” he added.
Zelenskyy again raised the prospect of President Donald Trump visiting Ukraine — an offer the White House is yet to take up. His predecessor, President Joe Biden, visited Kyiv in 2023.
“Only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain — only then can one understand what this war is really about. And because of whom,” Zelenskyy said.
“It is an attack by a sick state on a sovereign one, and that Putin is this war. He is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace,” he added.
As the war grinds into its fifth year, Zelenskyy said, “Putin has not achieved his goals. He has not broken Ukrainians. He has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to secure peace and justice.”
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia is “continuing our efforts to achieve peace, our position is very clear and consistent. Now everything depends on the actions of the Kyiv regime.”
“The goals have not yet been fully achieved, so the special military operation continues,” Peskov said in response to Zelenskyy’s statement, using a longstanding Kremlin phrase to refer to its full-scale invasion.
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