Ukraine will emerge the victor in the war started by Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday, as Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor entered its 100th day, with Russian troops pounding the Donbas region.
Thousands of people have been killed, millions sent fleeing and towns turned into rubble, since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Russia’s advance has been slowed by a fierce Ukrainian resistance, which repelled them from around the capital and forced Moscow to shift its aims toward capturing the east.
Photo: AFP
Russia has since taken one-fifth of Ukrainian territory — tripling the land under its occupation from 2014, when it seized Crimea and parts of Donbas.
Moscow assessed that “certain results have been achieved,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, pointing to the “liberation” of some areas from what he called the “pro-Nazi armed forces of Ukraine.”
However, Zelenskiy said Russia would not prevail, appearing in a video accompanied by the same key political leaders also shown in a video posted on Feb. 24 when they vowed to defend their country.
Photo: Reuters
“Our team is much bigger. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are here. The most important — the people, the people of our state are here. Defending Ukraine for 100 days already,” he said.
“Victory will be ours,” he said in a show of defiance in the video, with the presidential office building as a backdrop.
Putin’s troops are now concentrating their forces in the Donbas, where some of the fiercest fighting is centered on the industrial hub city of Severodonetsk.
Fighting continues in Severodonetsk’s city center, the president’s office said, adding that the invaders were “shelling civilian infrastructure and Ukrainian military.”
Severodonetsk “is the toughest area at the moment,” Zelenskiy said late on Thursday.
“For 100 days, they have been levelling everything,” Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said on Telegram.
Accusing the Russians of destroying hospitals, schools and roads, Gaiday said, however, that “we are only getting stronger.”
“Hatred of the enemy and faith in our victory make us unbreakable,” he said.
Ukrainian troops were still holding an industrial zone, Gaiday said, a situation reminiscent of Mariupol, where a steelworks was the southeastern port city’s last holdout until Ukrainian troops finally surrendered late last month.
The situation in Lysychansk — Severodonetsk’s twin city, which sits just across a river — also looked increasingly dire.
About 60 percent of infrastructure and housing had been destroyed, while Internet, mobile network and gas services had been knocked out, Lysychansk Mayor Oleksandr Zaika said.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS