KYIV, UKRAINE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday expressed confidence in his country’s victory over invading Russian forces, as the United Nations marked the eve of the war’s first anniversary by voting overwhelmingly to demand Moscow withdraw.
Since the war started, Western leaders have rushed to support Kyiv, and G7 ministers discussed new sanctions on Russia Thursday, while the White House said Washington would announce “sweeping” new measures.
Zelensky vowed to keep up the fight as Ukraine prepared to mark one year since the invasion on Friday.
“We have not broken down, we have overcome many ordeals and we will prevail,” Zelensky said on social media.
“We will hold to account all those who brought this evil, this war to our land.”
In the capital Kyiv, which saw Russian troops at its doorstep at the start of the invasion last February and which has suffered relentless attacks since, residents remained defiant.
“This has been the most difficult year of my life and that of all Ukrainians,” said Diana Shestakova, 23, whose boyfriend has spent the last year away in the army.
“I am sure that we will be victorious, but we don’t know how long we will have to wait and how many victims there are still to come,” said Shestakova, who works for a publishing house.
Ahead of the anniversary, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov warned that Russia was planning a missile attack on Friday to mark the day.
In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin promised victory as he laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before meeting soldiers in Red Square under blue skies and brisk temperatures.
Russia’s “unbreakable unity is the key to our victory,” said Putin, who has likened his offensive to Moscow’s fight against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945.
Political commentators say the 70-year-old Kremlin chief is steeling Russians for long conflict with the West, insisting the country’s survival is at stake.
Many Russians have embraced that rhetoric.
“The country is really changing for the better,” Lyubov Yudina, a 48-year-old guard, told AFP.
Yudina said a lot of her friends had seen their sons drafted.
“Some of them died. That’s how it is.”
But others say the country is heading in the wrong direction.
“I don’t see any future now. I do not see why I would have children, for what reason I would have children now?” said Ruslan Melnikov, a 28-year-old teacher.