(Kyiv) Ukraine said on Friday that it would do everything to “win this year” against Russia, announcing an upcoming counter-offensive, on the first anniversary of the invasion of the country by the Russian army.
In Moscow, the number two of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also swore “victory”, going there with his threat, saying Russia was ready to go to “Poland’s borders”.
Warsaw, for its part, announced that it had delivered to Ukraine the first German-made Leopard 2 combat tanks, which had been expected for weeks.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has become the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance around the world, has therefore set the goal of defeating the Russian giant “this year”.
“We are ready for anything,” he said in an online video.
“Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine united the world,” he added, sitting at a desk in chiaroscuro, wearing a black sweater stamped with the Ukrainian coat of arms, a yellow trident.
Mr. Zelensky also vowed to punish “Russian murderers […] By an international court, by the judgment of God or by our soldiers”.
Kyiv is working “hard” on a counter-offensive, added its Defense Minister, Oleksiï Reznikov, promising to strike Russia in “the air, on land, at sea”.
According to him, the West sees Ukraine as its “shield” against Russia. Americans and Europeans are increasing arms deliveries, now sending tanks and longer-range ammunition to help Kyiv overcome its shortage of men and equipment with more precise weapons than those of the Russians.
President Zelensky also paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines and those who fell in battle. “We are all proud of you! “, he launched under a gray sky during a decorations ceremony organized in the morning at the foot of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
little brother at war
The blue and yellow national flag was hoisted there, before the Ukrainian anthem resounded: “Neither the glory nor the freedom of Ukraine are dead…”
Mr. Zelensky must still speak by receiving Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday, then give a major press conference.
Ceremonies are also planned locally, notably in Boutcha, the scene of a massacre of civilians attributed to Russian troops.
Galyna Gamoulets, 64, is a resident of this suburb of Kyiv and lived there during the first weeks of the war: “it was so scary that I don’t want to remember”. She now says she is “calmer” now that Ukraine has “weapons, aid, and (its) army”.
But “my husband’s little brother is at war, in Bakhmout […] He says it’s very hard, ”she says, referring to this eastern city, the scene of a fierce battle since the summer.
Around the world, the tone was generally one of solidarity with Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly demanded Thursday in a resolution passed by an overwhelming majority an “immediate” withdrawal of Russian troops. But there were notable abstentions, starting with China, Russia’s strategic ally.
NATO said it was “resolved to help Ukraine” and the G7 will call on it to refrain from sending military aid to Moscow, while Westerners suspect Beijing of considering taking this step.
President Emmanuel Macron assured Kyiv of his solidarity, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised that Vladimir Putin “will not achieve his imperialist goals”.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated on Thursday evening in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag. In London, a minute of silence and a prayer in the presence of MPs and diplomats will take place before a march to the Russian Embassy.
PHOTO SARAH MEYSSONNIER, REUTERS
The Eiffel Tower in the colors of Ukraine.
In the heart of Berlin, the carcass of a partially destroyed Russian tank has been installed in front of the Russian Embassy.
proxy war
The West has also planned to strengthen the sanctions imposed for a year in Moscow. The White House announced Friday in particular to reduce Russian access to sensitive technologies such as semiconductors. But so far, Russia has been able to adapt.
Conversely, China called for holding Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, citing both respect for Ukrainian territorial integrity and Russian security demands. An equation hitherto impossible.
Beijing “doesn’t have a lot of credibility” regarding Ukraine, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg commented.
Ukraine entered its second year of great war on Friday. Helped by Westerners, it inflicted unexpected setbacks on Vladimir Putin, who had triggered in the early morning of February 24, 2022 the worst conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
A year later, Ukrainian towns have been destroyed, part of the country is occupied and both sides have more than 150,000 killed or injured each, according to Western estimates. Some eight million Ukrainians have been displaced.
After the initial shock, the Ukrainian army managed to repel the invader from Kyiv, from the north, from the northeast and into the south. Since the winter, the front has stabilized, but both sides are preparing new offensives.
In addition to the Crimea annexed in 2014, Russia claims as its own four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.
PHOTO PAVEL BEDNYAKOV, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Vladimir Poutine
Vladimir Putin, who is not scheduled to speak on Friday, has all week accused the West of waging a proxy war to wipe out Russia and claimed that Ukraine is ruled by a genocidal neo-Nazi regime. He vowed to “methodically” continue his offensive.
Russia, faced with the extent of the losses, has mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists since September. She still hopes to at least conquer the four partially occupied regions she claims.
The fighting is currently concentrated in the east, around the fortress city of Bakhmout, where Russian forces have been advancing slowly for several weeks. The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner said on Friday that his troops had taken the small village of Berkhivka, neighboring Bakhmout.