This Monday, the president of Ukraine marked 600 days since the start of the Russian invasion with calls for Ukrainians and their allies to remain united and confident in the country’s ability to win the war.
“The point is not to waste time. Not to lose unity. Do not let doubts corrode your will,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social networks, quoted by the Spanish agency EFE.
The international visibility of the war launched by Russia on February 24, 2022 decreased considerably after the attack by the Islamist group Hamas against Israel on October 7.
Since then, the attention of the media and many international leaders and organizations has been focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, which left thousands dead and a million displaced in the Gaza Strip.
Zelensky issued the message as winter approaches and Ukraine has not made the expected progress in the counteroffensive it launched in early June after receiving new weapons from its allies.
kyiv also faces opposition from the US Republican Party, which managed to leave aid to Ukraine out of the latest budget expansion approved in Congress.
US President Joe Biden stated over the weekend, in an interview with CBS television, that Washington has the capacity to confront two wars at the same time, an indication that it will continue to support Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Chinese television on Monday that Kiev’s counteroffensive had not produced results and that the Ukrainian army had recorded “huge losses” in recent months.
In the message commemorating the 600 days of war, Zelensky thanked “all those who fight and work for the freedom of Ukraine.”
600 days of defiance of Russia’s large-scale aggression.
Freedom is won with a will that does not give up. Freedom founded on unity always prevails. The goal is not to waste time. Don’t lose unity. Let us not allow doubts to undermine our determination.
Every day we must add Ukraine… pic.twitter.com/IxhDui3tHW
– Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 16, 2023
He also honored “the memory of all those who gave their lives to preserve the nation” and called on combatants to continue “crushing the occupier every day.”
He also called on his compatriots and the international community to continue “doing everything possible to ensure that the future of Ukrainians belongs only to Ukrainians.”
The number of civilian and military casualties from Russia’s war against Ukraine is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, have admitted it will be high.
Source: TSF
