The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, today highlighted “significant” successes once morest the Russian army, although he admitted a “very difficult” situation in the south and east, in addition to announcing the planting campaign throughout the country and the reestablishment of some railway connections.
“The successes of our armed forces on the battlefield are really significant. Historically significant. But it is still not enough to cleanse our land of the occupiers. We are going to defeat them more,” Zelensky said in a video Friday night.
Task “number one is to accelerate peace,” he said, insisting that the war triggered by the Russian invasion on February 24 will not end until Ukraine receives more weapons and financial support to defend itself.
And he insisted that the war will end “as soon as the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo once morest Russia and the total blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace.”
The Ukrainian Armed Forces “are doing brilliantly. They are stopping the attacks of the occupiers. They are carrying out counter-attacks. They have already overwhelmed Russian conventional aviation so much, in the true sense of the word, that they are forced to use strategic aircraft of long range,” he said.
However, he admitted that in the south and east of the country “the situation is still very difficult” and that there is no talk of recovery.
In the occupied districts of Kherson and Zaporizhia provinces, the Russian army “continues to terrorize civilians”, he denounced.
Zelensky added that “the cruelty with which the Russian troops are trying to conquer the Azov region, Donbas, Kharkiv, only eliminates the slightest possibility that these territories and these people, at least at some point in the future, have links “with Russia.
The president said that today he met with all the high military commanders, the interior minister and the head of his delegation in talks with Russia, among others, to discuss the city of Mariupol, besieged by the invaders, and said that ” We are doing everything we can to save our people.”
In this regard, the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Oleksandr Motuzianyk, reported this Friday that “intense fighting continues” and the invaders cannot fully capture this city, according to the Ukrinform agency.
“The situation in Mariupol is difficult and the fighting continues. The Russian army is constantly engaging additional units to storm the city, and for now, active battles are taking place near the Illich plant and in the Mariupol port area. But the Russians cannot fully capture this city,” Motuzianyk said.
Zelensky also reported that he discussed with his government ministers how to solve the urgent economic problems that arose during the martial law imposed following the Russian invasion.
He stressed that four-fifths of all Ukrainian companies have already returned to work in a safe area, in particular heavy industry companies, and transport networks are being rebuilt.
In those circumstances, he added, “whatever happens, in all cities and all communities where there is no presence of occupiers and hostilities, it is necessary to restore the economy to the maximum.”
The president said that the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food reported that the planting campaign has started and continues in all regions, including Luhansk and Donetsk.
He also announced that the restoration of roads and railways has begun, and that from this Saturday the railway connection with Chernihiv and Nizhyn will be restored, and that trains are already running between the cities of the Sumy region.
