Enlarge image
President Zelenskyy: "Resist and Fight"
Photo: President of Ukraine / dpa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed his compatriots with an emotional video on the first anniversary of Russia's war of aggression.
"On February 24, millions of us made a decision," Zelenskyy wrote: "Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow flag," the president said, referring to the Ukrainian national colors.
“Not flee, but surrender.
Resist and Fight«.
"It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity," Zelenskyy continued.
Ukraine, however, remained steadfast.
"We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory," the President said.
The accompanying video shows recordings from the past few months.
You can see crying children and adults, people fleeing the war zone or an elderly man who is being helped by soldiers to get out of a landscape of rubble.
Battle scenes and pictures of solidarity demonstrations abroad are also shown.
The messages accompanying the film sequences speak of a »year of tears«, »of courage«, but also »of hope«.
»No agreements with those who are not willing to keep them«
However, there is still no end in sight to the conflict, which has meanwhile claimed tens of thousands of lives on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides.
In an interview with the BBC on Thursday, Zelenskyy rejected a compromise with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"We can agree on something and he'll send for troops the next day," Zelenskyy said.
One cannot “make agreements with those who are not willing to keep them”.
Ukraine's aim is to regain all of the territories occupied by Russia, Zelenskyy reiterated.
"If they don't give up part of our territories, it will be impossible for future generations to coexist," the president said to Russia.
China presents 12-point plan - and apparently delivers kamikaze drones
On the anniversary, China had called for a ceasefire in Ukraine in a 12-point paper and called for negotiations between Kiev and Moscow to be resumed immediately.
However, Beijing's move is viewed with skepticism, since China has not yet condemned Russia's war of aggression.
In addition, China is apparently itself negotiating with the Russians over a supply of kamikaze drones.
International support for Ukraine, which was attacked in violation of international law, is unbroken one year after the Russian attack: On Thursday evening at the UN General Assembly in New York, 141 of 193 member states voted for a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.
fek/dpa
