Zelensky vows 'reborn' Ukraine will take back east as well as Crimea

KYIV • Ukraine was "reborn" when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday, marking 31 years of his country's independence from the Moscow-controlled Soviet Union with a vow to drive Russian forces out completely.

After days of warnings that Moscow could use the anniversary of Ukraine's Independence Day to launch more missile attacks on major cities, the second biggest city Kharkiv was under curfew after months of bombardment.

The anniversary fell exactly six months after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Yesterday's celebrations were cancelled but many people marked the day by wearing embroidered shirts that are part of the national dress.

In an emotional speech to his compatriots, Mr Zelensky said Russia's attack had revived the nation's spirit.

"A new nation appeared in the world on Feb 24 at 4 in the morning," he said. "It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget."

The 44-year-old leader, speaking in front of Kyiv's central monument to independence in his trademark combat fatigues, vowed to recapture occupied areas of eastern Ukraine as well as the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

"We will not sit down at the negotiating table out of fear, with a gun pointed at our heads," Mr Zelensky said. "For us, the most terrible iron is not missiles, aircraft and tanks, but shackles. Not trenches, but fetters."

He and his wife later attended a service in Kyiv's St Sophia cathedral along with religious leaders from all of Ukraine's major faiths.

Russia has made few advances in Ukraine in recent months, after its troops were pushed back from Kyiv in the early weeks of the war. Ukrainian soldiers on the front line in the east said they were more motivated than their enemy.

"All of our people are cheering for us," a soldier called Yevhen said.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a meeting of defence ministers in Uzbekistan that Russia had deliberately slowed down what it refers to as its "special military operation" in Ukraine to avoid civilian casualties.

On Tuesday evening, Mr Zelensky warned of the possibility of "repugnant Russian provocations" and Ukraine's military urged people to take air raid warnings seriously, reporting new air and missile attacks on civilian buildings.

The war has killed thousands of civilians, forced more than a third of Ukraine's 41 million people from their homes and shaken the global economy.

US President Joe Biden announced nearly US$3 billion (S$4.2 billion) for weapons and equipment for Ukraine in Washington's "biggest tranche of security assistance to date", while the head of Nato told Ukrainians they were an inspiration to the world.

"You can count on Nato's support. For as long as it takes," Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a video message.

As well as Crimea, Russian forces have seized areas of the south including the Black Sea and Sea of Azov coasts, and chunks of the eastern Donbas region comprising the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk.

Almost 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in the war, its military said this week. Kyiv says the invasion is an unprovoked act of imperial aggression.

Russia has not publicised its losses but US intelligence estimates 15,000 killed in what Moscow describes as an operation necessitated by threats to its security.

Those deemed to discredit its armed forces are liable to prosecution. Russian opposition politician Yevgeny Roizman was shown being detained at his home in a video published by state-owned news agency RIA yesterday.

"The essence is that I called the war a war. That's it," he said.

Moscow has installed officials in areas of Ukraine it controls but some have been assassinated. The head of the town of Mykhailivka in the Russian-controlled part of the Zaporizhzhia region was killed by a car bomb yesterday.

Both sides have accused the other of firing missiles and artillery at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, Europe's biggest, raising fears of a nuclear catastrophe. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said the UN nuclear watchdog hoped to gain access within days if negotiations succeeded.

REUTERS