On anniversary of illegal annexation, Russia strikes Ukrainian region it claims as its own

KYIV – Russia on Saturday launched a missile attack on a region in southern Ukraine that it claims as its own, wounding at least five people, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered duelling speeches that underlined their determination to keep fighting.

Russia illegally annexed four regions – Donetsk and Luhansk in the east and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson in the south – exactly a year ago on Saturday. Battles for control have continued to rage in all four areas.

In an address timed to the anniversary, Mr Putin insisted that Ukrainians in the occupied regions chose to be a part of Russia, a position rejected by the government in Kyiv and Ukraine’s allies.

Moscow’s forces were fighting “for our sovereignty, spiritual values and unity”, he said, standing by a false justification of Russia’s invasion that he has previously presented as a struggle against the West.

Mr Zelensky, meanwhile, called for continued national resistance nearly 600 days into the war.

“There hasn’t been a day throughout this long period when Ukraine felt any hopelessness and when Russia had even a glimmer of real hope to break us,” he said in a speech.

The note of defiance came as Ukraine is pursuing a counter-offensive to drive Russian forces from land that Moscow now considers to be part of its territory – claims widely rejected by Western countries.

But four months in, Ukrainian forces have not achieved a decisive breach in Russian defences, and the front lines have remained largely unchanged, suggesting there will be no swift military conclusion to a war that has cost thousands of lives on both sides.

As fierce battles rage for every yard of land, Russian forces have carried out relentless strikes on civilian areas and other targets in Ukraine.

Two separate missile strikes injured five people on Saturday morning in the Zaporizhzhia region, the Ukrainian regional military administration said. Houses and an infrastructure facility sustained damage, it added.

Russian forces launched 40 exploding drones overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force, which said 30 of the slow-moving drones were shot down. A drone hit an infrastructure plant in the Vinnytsia region of central Ukraine and sparked a large fire.

The authorities said drones also targeted Mykolaiv and Odesa, in southern Ukraine.

Attacks also wounded seven civilians in the Donetsk region and three others in Kherson, the authorities said Saturday. NYTIMES