Ukraine’s Zelensky sheds tears for the dead as war enters second year
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Emergency workers sift through rubble searching for possible survivors after a missile attack in Kramatorsk on Feb 2.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
KYIV – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Friday with a sombre message of defiance to his people and tears for the thousands of soldiers who have died.
On a cold, cloudy morning in Kyiv, the 45-year-old addressed members of Ukraine’s armed forces and a small gathering of dignitaries at St Sophia Square, next to the green- and gold-domed cathedral that is a symbol of the city’s resilience.
“I want to say to all of you who are fighting for Ukraine... I am proud of you. We all, each and every one, are proud of you!”
As he has done throughout the war, Mr Zelensky showed his emotions in the 30-minute ceremony.
He held back tears as he gave out Hero of Ukraine awards to troops – one of whom was on crutches – and to the mother of a soldier who had been killed.
He cried as a band played the national anthem. Those present bowed their heads during a minute of silence.
Mr Zelensky remains hugely popular in Ukraine, connecting with the population through daily messages filmed on a smartphone, and working to maintain international support through financial aid and weapons. He recorded a special address of nearly 15 minutes titled “The Year of Invincibility” for the anniversary, in which he vowed to defeat the enemy.
“A year ago on this day, from this same place, around seven in the morning, I addressed you with a brief statement, lasting only 67 seconds,” he said, recalling the first day of what has become Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
“We are strong. We are ready for anything. We will defeat everyone. This is how it began on Feb 24, 2022. The longest day of our lives. The most difficult day in our recent history. We woke up early and haven’t slept since.”
Western military officials estimate casualties on both sides at more than 100,000 killed or wounded. Tens of thousands of civilians are also feared to have died, while millions have fled the threat of fighting.
“Almost everyone has at least one contact in their phone that will never pick up the phone again,” Mr Zelensky said. “He who will not respond to the SMS ‘How are you?‘ These two simple words got a new meaning during the year of the war.”
Mr Zelensky described 2022 as a year of resilience, courage, pain and unity. He called it a “furious year of invincibility” in a statement released on social media.
“Its main result is that we endured. We were not defeated. And we will do everything to gain victory this year.”
“Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine has united the world,” Mr Zelensky said, hailing cities that have become bywords for alleged Russian war crimes like Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol as “capitals of invincibility”.
As fighting raged on in Ukraine’s east and south, Kyiv’s allies around the world showed their support.
Paris lit up the Eiffel Tower in the Ukrainian flag colours
“There will be a life after this war, because Ukraine will win,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said in a speech.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Thursday marking the war’s anniversary and demanding Moscow pull out and stop fighting.
There were 141 votes in favour and 32 abstentions. Six countries joined Russia to vote no – Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria. Russia’s close ally China abstained on the UN vote.
Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy dismissed the action at the UN as “useless”.
Mr Zelensky posted on Twitter: “This resolution is a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine.”
On the battlefield, the Ukrainian military reported increased Russian activity in the east and south as the anniversary approached, with at least 25 towns and villages in three northern regions along the Russian border under fire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022
Ukraine had success with counter-offensives in late 2022 to grab back much of the territory it lost early on. Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine.
Trench warfare
Moscow has called the war a “special military operation” to protect Russian sovereignty. It has settled into attritional trench warfare, with rising losses on both sides, particularly in 2023 in fighting in and around the eastern town of Bakhmut.
The village of Bucha in the north near Kyiv, where mass graves were discovered,
Kyiv and the West have accused Russia of war crimes, but Moscow denies targeting civilians.
Volunteers lower into a grave a coffin with one of fifteen unidentified people killed by Russian troops in Bucha in 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Far from the military campaigns on the front lines of Ukraine, the war has damaged the world economy, and a Cold War chill has set into international relations, with Mr Putin raising the spectre of nuclear weapons.
With Mr Putin signalling a desire to double down on a conflict that prompted tough Western sanctions against Russia, and Mr Zelensky insisting on his country’s sovereignty and Moscow’s withdrawal, the prospects of peace appear bleak.
“We don’t know when the war will end. But what we do know is that when the war ends, we need to ensure that history doesn’t repeat itself,” Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Thursday.
“We need to ensure that we break the cycle of Russian aggression. We need to prevent Russia from chipping away at European security,” he said.
Support for Ukraine
US President Joe Biden will meet virtually on Friday with Group of Seven leaders and Mr Zelensky to mark the anniversary and announce new sanctions against those aiding Russia’s war effort,
“We must do everything to make sure they produce results for Ukraine, ones that are truly significant and not just symbolic, given that it is Feb 24, but also in terms of real value for our defence,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States would provide an additional US$2 billion (S$2.69 billion) in security assistance.
Group of 20 (G-20) financial leaders meeting near Bengaluru, in India, must condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Reuters on Friday, adding that Europe was working on new sanctions against Moscow.
“Sanctions will be more and more efficient, more and more effective,” said Mr Le Maire, speaking on the first day of the G-20 meeting.
India, which holds the current G-20 presidency, does not want the bloc to discuss additional sanctions.
It is pressing to avoid using the word “war” in the communique to describe the conflict, G-20 officials told Reuters.
Washington has said China is considering providing weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine, a move that could intensify the conflict into a confrontation between Russia and China on one side and Ukraine and the US-led Nato military alliance on the other.
Beijing’s top diplomat visited Moscow this week and pledged a deeper relationship between the countries, and Mr Putin on Thursday hailed “new frontiers” in ties with Beijing and signalled China’s leader Xi Jinping would visit.
Mr Xi is expected to deliver a “peace speech”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a position paper on Friday
“Conflict and war benefit no one. All parties must stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiralling out of control,” the ministry said.
Reflecting the Kremlin’s increasingly hawkish narrative, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Thursday cast it as an existential fight against a hostile West.
Ukraine and its allies say the invasion is an unjustified land grab aimed at subjugating a sovereign state.
Further ratcheting up tensions, Mr Putin announced plans on Thursday to deploy new Sarmat multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2023. Earlier this week, he suspended Russia’s participation with the United States in the New Start, or Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, on nuclear arms control.
Russia’s military focus after a year of fighting is now on seizing the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which together form the strategic industrial area known as the Donbas near the Russian border.
Close to a Ukrainian tank park near Bakhmut, which has become Russia’s main target, constant explosions could be heard echoing in the distance on Thursday.
“If we give up Bakhmut, everything else will get even more complicated. We can’t give it up, under any circumstance. We will hold through,” Junior Sergeant Oleh Slavin, a tank operator, told Reuters. REUTERS
