(Kyiv) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the “courage” of his people at the 500e day of the war started by Russia, which carried out a new deadly bombardment in the east of the country on Saturday.
Ukraine on Saturday deplored eight new dead and 13 injured after a Russian bombardment on the town of Lyman, in the Donestk region.
“To date, we are aware of dead people […] following enemy shelling this morning,” the Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on Telegram.
According to him, fires broke out after these strikes in a residential building and the annex of a printing press but could be extinguished.
The symbolic milestone of 500 days is crossed as Kyiv, engaged in a counter-offensive against Moscow, obtained a commitment from Washington on Friday to deliver cluster bombs to it, a few days before the NATO summit in Vilnius .
To mark the 500e day of a conflict that killed more than 9,000 civilians according to the UN, the Ukrainian president visited Serpents’ Island, which Moscow had seized shortly after the start of the invasion on February 24, 2022 before to have to surrender it to Kyiv forces.
PHOTO UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Volodymyr Zelensky left a message on Serpents’ Island.
“Today we are on Serpents’ Island, which will never be conquered by the occupier, just like the rest of Ukraine, because we are the land of courage,” Zelensky said in a statement. undated video posted on social media on Saturday.
The Ukrainian contingent stationed on this small rock at the start of the invasion refused to surrender and called on the Russian warship Moskva “to go fuck yourself”, during a radio exchange that has become cult and erected as a symbol of Kyiv’s resistance.
These Ukrainian soldiers had certainly ended up being captured before being exchanged with Russian prisoners. But the Moskva had sunk in the Black Sea after being hit, according to Kyiv, by Ukrainian missiles. Moscow had to abandon the island in June 2022.
“I want to thank here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days,” Mr. Zelensky said in this video where he is seen laying flowers in front of a memorial on the island.
PHOTO UKRAINIAN PRESIDENCY VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In Istanbul, where he ended a regional tour on Saturday, the Ukrainian president saluted the memory of the victims of the conflict during a prayer alongside the Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew.
“Our fight has been going on for 500 days already, since the start of the full-scale invasion. We received here the support of His Holiness and prayers for our fighters, our nation, our people, for life in Ukraine,” he said.
” Difficult decision ”
On Friday, the Ukrainian president obtained a diplomatic victory after Washington’s decision to deliver cluster munitions to him, which he described as “an essential aid program”.
The United States has thus taken a further step in its support for Ukraine by agreeing to provide its ally with these weapons, which kill indiscriminately by dispersing small explosive charges before or after impact.
“It was a very difficult decision for me,” US President Joe Biden told CNN.
But Washington finally considered that this delivery represented “the right thing to do” in view of the developments on the ground and after having received the commitment of Kyiv to minimize “the risks posed to civilians”.
On the other hand, Washington dampened the hopes of Mr. Zelensky who was hoping for Western support for his country’s entry into NATO at the next Vilnius summit on July 11 and 12.
Kyiv “still has a lot of steps to go before you can become a member,” warned White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
9,000 civilians killed
Turkish Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan, receiving Mr. Zelensky in Istanbul on Friday, on the contrary considered that Ukraine “deserved” to join the Atlantic Alliance and called on the two belligerent countries to “return to peace talks “.
Mr Zelensky had a long meeting with the Turkish President, who maintains close ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, during which the July 2022 agreement which allows Ukraine to export cereals through the Black Sea despite the war.
That deal expires on July 17, and Russia has said it sees no reason to extend it. “We hope that the agreement will be extended,” said Mr. Erdogan, who intends to raise the subject with Mr. Putin, whom he is due to receive in August.
Asked about this visit on Saturday, the Kremlin spokesman remained evasive. “Contact is possible. There are no dates yet,” said Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies.