Live | “It will be the year of victory”: Zelensky remembers the fallen one year after the war

12 months of invasion, death, desolation and destruction. A gloomy full-blown anniversary.

On the first year of the war in Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president of the attacked country, Volodimir Zelensky, set a defiant tone against Moscow and promised that he would achieve victory.

At the dawn of a day full of commemorations and reflection, Zelensky preceded a ceremony in Kiev, in which he remembered the victims and congratulated the Ukrainian citizens for their resilience in the midst of the largest and deadliest conflict on European soil since World War II. .

On the other side of the border, the Kremlin insisted on its occupationist ambitions. Former President Dmitri Medvedev and current vice president of the Russian Security Council even pointed out that his country is willing to reach the borders of Poland and recapture former territorial limits of the former Soviet Union.

These are the most outstanding events of this February 24:

• 7:15 (BOG) Moscow threatens to attack in case of actions against its troops in Moldova

The Russian Foreign Ministry raises its warnings. This time, he stated that there would be retaliation if kyiv launches operations against his “peacekeepers” in Transnistria. This is the pro-Russian separatist region of Moldova, dependent on the Kremlin.

Moscow insisted that “any action that threatens its security will be considered under international law as an attack on the Russian Federation.”

These statements come a day after the Kremlin accused Kiev of planning to invade that breakaway region with a “false flag” operation, a claim that was rejected by the Moldovan government.

Transnistria, in the territory of Moldova, which shares a border with Ukraine, would give Moscow another “open door” for its large-scale occupation ambitions, as the deputy commander of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces, Rustam Minnekayev, acknowledged. in April 2022.

• 7:07 (BOG) kyiv: Any peace plan must include Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine’s 1991 borders

This was emphasized by Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior political adviser to the Ukrainian president, when referring to the borders marked out for Ukraine more than 30 years ago, when it was established as an independent country after the fall of the Soviet Union.

“Any ‘peace plan’ with only a ceasefire and, as a result, a new delimitation line and the continued occupation of Ukrainian territory, is not about peace, but about freezing the war, a Ukrainian defeat and ( the) next stages of Russia’s genocide,” Podolyak said.

His remarks came just after China released its 12-point plan to reach a cessation of hostilities on Ukrainian soil.

• 6:38 (BOG) China presents 12-point plan for eventual peace talks

The Xi Jinping government presented its announced plan this Friday, which it assures is aimed at achieving peace between kyiv and Moscow.

The program consists of 12 points: respect the sovereignty of all countries; abandon the Cold War mentality; cease hostilities; resume peace talks; resolve the humanitarian crisis; protect civilians and prisoners of war; preserve the safety of nuclear facilities; reduce strategic risks; facilitate grain exports; end unilateral sanctions; keep industrial and supply chains stable and promote post-conflict reconstruction.

In summary, the Beijing plan emphasizes promoting dialogue between the parties involved to reach eventual agreements.

Despite China’s apparent good intentions, its role as a possible mediator in the conflict has raised questions amid its undoubted rapprochement with Russia. During his visit to Putin this week in Moscow, the top representative of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, made it clear that he supports the Kremlin in a common front to stop what they see as an arbitrary expansion of the West in the geopolitical order.

• 6:21 (BOG) Poland delivers first Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

The first Leopard 2 tanks promised by the West begin to arrive in Ukraine.

A first batch of the powerful German-made vehicles donated by the Polish Government arrived on Ukrainian territory. This was stated this Friday by the Polish Defense Minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, at a meeting of the National Security Council.

Warsaw previously promised delivery of at least 14 tanks, considered the jewel of the German Army.

In recent weeks, the Polish government has pushed what it called a “coalition” within the European Union to strengthen its neighboring nation’s defenses. Despite Berlin’s initial reluctance, both that government and other Western countries promised to provide these tanks, classified as “crucial” by the Zelensky Administration to defend the country from him.

“The prime minister could not be here today, he went to kyiv to bring Leopard tanks, which are the first batch delivered to Ukraine,” President Andrzej Duda confirmed during a meeting with his cabinet.

• 5:43 (BOG) Russia signals readiness to reach Poland’s borders

Zelenski’s assertions about Moscow’s ambitions to seize foreign territories gained further force this Friday after statements by former President Dmitri Medvedev.

Vladimir Putin’s ally maintained that “a lasting peace with Ukraine” would depend on “pulling back the borders of hostile states as far as possible, even if it means the borders of Poland”, referring to the NATO member country and border Ukraine with the European Union.

While Russian troops resume their momentum in the great Donbass region, eastern Ukraine, after the setbacks suffered in the last quarter of 2022, Medvedev assures that his troops would prevail.

“Victory will be achieved. We all want it to happen as soon as possible. And that day will come,” Medvedev said.

The former Russian president added that this eventual scenario would provide his country with the conditions to reach “some kind of agreement” with his neighboring nation, after anticipating that there would be tough negotiations with kyiv and the West.

• 5:05 (BOG) Zelensky: “Russia must lose to stop seeking control of its neighbors”

The Ukrainian president emphasized that the victory of his defenses against Russia does not only represent the triumph of his country, but that of the entire democratic and civilized world.

“Russia must lose in Ukraine so that it stops trying to conquer the territories it once controlled,” Zelensky stressed.

“Russian revenge must forever forget about Kiev and Vilnius, about Chisinau and Warsaw, about our brothers in Latvia and Estonia, in Georgia and all the other countries that are now threatened,” he said, recalling territories that were part of the now-defunct Union. Soviet, but which today are independent countries.

Kiev’s aspirations to be part of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty alliance (NATO), led by the United States, continue to be some of the excuses used by the Kremlin to justify the invasion, pointing out alleged threats to its territory.

• 4:45 (BOG) Zelensky: ‘This is the year of our victory’

One year after the war, President Zelenski preceded a ceremony in Kiev, the capital, along with dozens of soldiers, national flags and floral offerings, in which they paid tribute to the thousands of civilians and soldiers killed by Russian attacks on large scale.

The president recalled the start of the invasion, exactly 12 months ago, which he described as “the longest day of our lives.”

But a year later, and in a video published by the Ukrainian Presidency just before the commemoration event, the head of state ratified his position to reinvigorate his armed forces until the invading troops were removed from their territories.

“This is the year of our victory. This is the year of our invincibility (…) We will defeat them all”, Zelenski stressed.

“We survived the first day of the full-scale war. We didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but we clearly understood that for every tomorrow, you need to fight. And we fight, ”he maintained.

Likewise, the leader of the attacked nation promised not to abandon the Ukrainian citizens who live under the Russian occupation.

Ukraine “has not forgotten about you, has not given up on you. One way or another, we will liberate all our lands,” she said.

Although the anti-aircraft alarms did not sound in the early hours of this Friday morning, authorities and citizens remain on alert.

In towns where citizens are trying to get on with their lives despite the risks, the government recommended closing schools to study online and asked offices to keep their employees working remotely.

With Reuters, AP and EFE