Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday vowed that Russian forces would be defeated in Ukraine like Nazi Germany was beaten in World War II, commemorating Victory in Europe Day.
All the old evil that modern Russia is bringing back will be defeated just as Nazism was defeated.
Just as we destroyed evil together then, we are destroying a similar evil together now.”
Zelenskyy said in a video statement standing in front of a war memorial.
His address came on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender to Allied forces on May 8, 1945, and one day ahead of Victory Day in Moscow, celebrating the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.
Zelenskyy said he had submitted a bill to parliament to formally commemorate World War II in Ukraine on May 8 and celebrate Europe Day on May 9, distancing itself further from Moscow.
He said the Kremlin was responsible for “aggression and annexation, occupation and deportation,” as well as “mass murder and torture.”
The address came hours after Ukrainian forces said they had downed 35 attack drones launched by Russia, which left five people wounded in Kyiv. In the southern region of Odessa, officials reported an airstrike hitting a warehouse, in which three people were injured.