President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday that Russia wanted to “destroy” Ukraine but that war has “returned to its home,” in a Ukrainian Independence Day video address he said was recorded from where Kyiv launched its surprise incursion into Russia.
Kyiv celebrates independence from the Soviet Union as the long war with Russia has reached a dramatic moment, with Ukrainian forces mounting an incursion in Russia’s Kursk region and Moscow eyeing more east Ukrainian towns.
Zelensky published a video from a deserted, forested area in the Sumy region, which he visited earlier this week, saying it was a “few kilometers” from where Ukrainian forces shocked the world on August 6 by crossing into Russia.
The war-time leader said Kyiv “surprises once again” and vowed that Russia “will know what retribution is.”
By launching its 2022 invasion, he said, “Russia was seeking one thing: to destroy us. Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine. And what the enemy brought to our land has now returned to its home.
“Anyone who wants to sow evil on our land will reap its fruit on their territory,” he added. “This is not a prediction, not gloating, not blind revenge. It is justice.”
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The same day, Zelensky signed a law banning the Russian-linked Orthodox Church in Ukraine, with the decision published on Ukraine’s parliament website.
Ukraine has been seeking to distance itself from the Russian church since 2014 and the efforts have accelerated since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
Zelensky approved the bill slammed by Russia on Kyiv’s independence day from the Soviet Union and two and a half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian leader said the move will strengthen his country’s independence and in an address on Saturday, he declared, “Ukrainian Orthodox (church) today is taking a step towards liberation from Moscow’s devils.”
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially broke away from the Moscow patriarchy in 2022, but Ukrainian officials repeatedly accuse its clerics of staying loyal to Russia.
Russia’s invasion has been backed by the country’s Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill, a staunch ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Furthermore, according to an Emirati official, Russia and Ukraine are set to exchange 115 prisoners.
However, five people were killed on Saturday in a Russian strike on the eastern town of Kostyantynivka in Ukraine.
With AFP
