Ukraine war: Zelensky pledges push for victory in 2023 on anniversary of Russian invasion

Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged to push for victory in 2023 as the world marks a year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On a day of commemorations and defiance, the Ukrainian President described the past 12 months as one of “pain, sorrow, faith and unity” and said the people of Ukraine had proven themselves to be “invincible”.

In a tweet, he wrote: “On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting & fighting. It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith, and unity. And this year, we remained invincible. We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory!"

In a defiant video address, Zelensky recalled the terror unleashed a year ago by the Russian assault which triggered Europe’s biggest and deadliest war since the Second World War, claiming the lives of thousands of civilians.

He described 24 February 2022 as “the longest day of our lives”, adding: “We survived the first day of the full-scale war. We didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but we clearly understood that for each tomorrow, you need to fight. And we fought.”

Ukrainians planned memorials, candle vigils and other remembrances for their tens of thousands of dead — a toll growing all the time as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine in particular.

There were concerns that Russia might unleash another barrage of missiles against Ukraine to add further sorrow on the day of the anniversary, but air raid sirens mercifully did not sound overnight in the capital of Kyiv.

The government has still recommended that schools move classes online on Friday and office employees have been asked to work from home.

Tributes to Ukraine’s resilience flowed from overseas to mark the poignant anniversary, with the Eiffel Tower in Paris among monuments illuminated in Ukraine’s colours — yellow and blue.

Zelensky said the date of the Russian assault had been a moment when “millions of us made a choice”. Ukrainians chose not the white flag of surrender “but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting and fighting,” his tweet said.

A year on, casualty figures are horrific on both sides, with Western estimates suggesting hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded, and economic and diplomatic repercussions have rippled across the globe.

Western nations are supporting Ukraine militarily, financially and politically, but China, India and countries in the global south have proven ambivalent about Western arguments that Ukraine is the front line of a fight for freedom and democracy.

China has now called for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia and the opening of peace talks as part of a 12-point proposal to end the fighting that started one year ago. While saying it has a neutral stance, China has also said it has a “no limits” relationship with Russia and has refused to criticise its invasion of Ukraine or even refer to it as such.

It has accused the West of provoking the conflict and “fanning the flames” by providing Ukraine with defensive arms. The US has also said China may be preparing to provide Russia with military aid, something Beijing says lacks evidence.

Given China’s positions, there are doubts over whether its proposal has any chance — and whether China can be seen as an honest broker.