On I-Day eve, Zelenskyy vows to liberate Crimea

Kyiv, August 23

On Independence Day eve, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to restore Ukrainian rule over Russia-annexed Crimea, a move that he said would help re-establish “world law and order”.

He told an international conference on Crimea that regaining control of the peninsula, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014, in a move not recognised by most other countries, would be the “biggest anti-war step”. “It all began with Crimea, and will end with it,” Zelenskyy said in an opening address to the Crimea Platform, a forum that seeks to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and end Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

“And this is true, and I believe in it 100 per cent, that to overcome terror, to return guarantees and security to our region, to Europe, to the whole world, it is necessary to gain victory in the fight against Russian aggression.”

Zelenskyy said representatives of about 60 states and international organisations were taking part in the summit, including about 40 presidents and prime ministers. Almost all were participating online but Polish President Andrzei Duda attended it in Kyiv.

Russia shows no sign of abandoning Crimea and has used the peninsula as a platform to launch missile strikes on Ukrainian targets. He said Russia had turned Crimea into “an ecological disaster zone and a military springboard for aggression”. — Reuters

Ukraine targets Admn HQ in Donetsk

Ukrainian forces shelled a building housing the local administration headquarters in the centre of separatist-controlled Donetsk on Tuesday with Western-supplied weapons, a news agency reported. Three people were killed in a series of strikes on Donetsk, which has been under the control of Russian-backed separatists since 2014, on Tuesday, the Russian-installed mayor of Donetsk said in a post on his Telegram channel. Western officials have warned of a possible escalation in fighting in Ukraine this week, as Wednesday marks six months since Russia’s invasion. Reuters

Fear something ugly

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb 24, can try something ugly in the run-up to I-Day, which marks Ukraine’s break from Soviet rule. If they hit us, they will receive a response. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine President