Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte (not pictured) in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. In his Independence Day address earlier Saturday Zelensky said the Kursk counter-offensive has brought the invasion ‘home’ to Russia. Photo by Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA-EFE
Aug. 24 (UPI) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky honored his military’s surprise push into Russian territory during his Independence Day speech Saturday, declaring the war against his country has now “returned to their home.”
Speaking in a pre-recorded video shot earlier this week in a forested area of the Sumy region, Zelensky marked the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine‘s independence from the Soviet Union by declaring this month’s unexpected incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has given the Kremlin a taste of the trauma endured by Ukraine in the 2 1/2 years since the start of the invasion.
“Nine hundred-thirteen days ago, Russia unleashed war against us, including through the Sumy region,” the president said. “It violated not only our sovereign borders, but also the limits of cruelty and common sense. It was endlessly striving for one thing: to destroy us.
“Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine. And whatever the enemy was bringing to our land has now returned to their home.”
Zelensky insulted Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him “a sick old man from the Red Square, who constantly threatens everyone with the red button,” and mocked his stated ambition to subdue Ukraine by turning it into a “buffer zone” between Russia and NATO countries.
“[Putin], who wanted to turn our land into a buffer zone, should think about preventing his country from becoming a buffer federation. This is how independence responds,” he said.
Ukraine’s Kursk counter-offensive, which began Aug. 6, has continued in recent days, analysts said.
Citing Russian military bloggers, the Institute for the Study War estimated on Saturday that Ukrainian forces have advanced further in and around the Russian town of Russkaya Konopelka, located east of Sudzha in the Kursk Oblast, while fighting continued throughout the line of contact across the region on Thursday and Friday.
The Ukrainian military says it controls 488 square miles and 93 settlements inside Russia, including Sudzha.
Meanwhile on Saturday, Zelensky told reporters during a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė the Kursk incursion was going as planned and had in fact “stopped a Russian operation” through which the Kremlin had hoped to encircle of part of Sumy Oblast.
“(Our goal is) to show (Russia’s) society what is more precious to (Putin) — the occupation of Ukraine’s territory or the protection of Russian population,” he said. “And I am very pleased that everything I told our partners about has now been demonstrated in practice.”
Earlier in the day Zelensky announced Ukraine and Russia had each released 115 prisoners of war for a total of 230 exchanged after officials in the United Arab Emirates brokered the swap.
Eighty-two of the Ukrainian prisoners were captured by Russian forces during the defense of Mariupol while all of the Russian POWs were captured during Ukraine’s Kursk incursion.