Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked all the soldiers and all of Ukraine for the 500 days of fighting against Russian aggression with a message from the Island of Snakes, one of the most important strategic places in the maritime zone of the sea Negro, occupied by the Russians in February of last year and liberated on June 30.
“I want to thank precisely from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days: our armed forces, our intelligence service, our National Guard, our border guards, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, our broadcast operators, our people,” he said. And he continued: “I thank everyone who fights for Ukraine.”
He expressed his wish that the freedom that all the heroes wanted for Ukraine and “that must be won right now”, be “an honor for all those who gave their lives for Ukraine”, adding: “Without doubt, we will win.”
“Although it is a small piece of land in the middle of our Black Sea, it is great proof that Ukraine will recover every part of its territory,” said Zelensky, quoted by the Unian agency, referring to the Island of Snakes in the “500 days of full-scale war.”
“Grateful to all who fought here against the occupiers. We honor the memory of the heroes who gave their lives in this battle, one of the most important in large-scale warfare. Glory to each and every one who fought for the safety of our Black Sea!” he added.
The liberation of Snake Island was preceded by the April sinking of the Russian flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the Moskva. The Russian Defense Ministry at the time described the Russian withdrawal as a “gesture of goodwill”.
The president was this Saturday for a good part of the day in Turkey, from where he spoke with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, to set the date for the start of the training of Ukrainian pilots in the handling of F-16 fighters and attended a mass in memory of the victims of war.
Zelensky returned from Istanbul on his plane with five commanders who led the Azovstal battle in Mariupol last year and who have been in Turkey since September 2022 under the protection of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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