Ukraine will soon be able to retaliate against “any part” of Russia, President Volodymr Zelensky said Saturday in a video marking the nation’s Independence Day said to have been filmed near the border where Kyiv launched a surprise counterattack earlier this month.
“Thirty-three years ago, Ukraine was reborn on the maps of the world, and today Ukraine wins the hearts of the entire world,” he said in the video, stating the nation serves as “an example of how not to be afraid of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” who he called “a sick old man from Red Square.”
He did not elaborate on Ukraine’s military capabilities but pledged that Ukraine’s enemy will soon learn about Ukrainian retaliation: “Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged. They will know that sooner or later a Ukrainian response will reach any point in the Russian Federation that is a source of danger to the life of our state and our people.”
The Institute for the Study of War said that as of Friday, Ukrainian forces were continuing to slowly advance inside Russia’s Kursk region, which it first crossed the border on Aug. 6.
US officials say the goal of the operation is to create a “buffer zone” between Moscow and eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky said the war unleashed by Russia 913 days ago violated not only “our sovereign borders, but also the limits of cruelty and common sense. It was endlessly striving for one thing: to destroy us. Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine.”
White House and Pentagon officials continued to deny the U.S. is considering a policy shift to allow Kyiv to use American-provided weapons at wherever it pleases.
America right now limits its use to specific areas near the border.
The officials, Politico reported, maintain Ukraine can win the war even while working within the U.S. imposed restrictions.
Separately, Russia and Ukraine on Saturday carried out a prisoner exchange, with 115 prisoners from each side going back home.
With Post wires.
