- Zelensky marked first anniversary of Russia's invasion with sombre message
- He described the day of invasion as the 'most difficult day in our recent history'
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Volodymyr Zelensky today marked the anniversary of Russia's barbaric invasion with a sombre message of defiance as he vowed to bring Russian 'murderers' to justice.
As dawn broke on a day of commemorations, the Ukrainian president hailed his nation for fighting back against Vladimir Putin's troops during 'a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity'.
In an emotional video address, he said: 'We have endured. We were not defeated. And we will do everything to gain victory this year.'
Hailing cities such as Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol as 'capitals of invincibility', he added: 'Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine has united the world...
'We will never rest until the Russian murderers face deserved punishment.'
Volodymyr Zelensky, left, holds the flag of a military unit as an officer kisses it during a commemorative event to mark the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine
The Ukrainian president gave a sombre message of defiance, saying 'we will do everything to gain victory this year'. Pictured: A father holds his daughter in Ukraine in the video shared by Mr Zelensky
In a video released to the media and titled 'The Year of Invincibility', the 45-year-old recalled the day Vladimir Putin's forces invaded
In an emotional video address, Zelensky said: 'We will never rest until the Russian murderers face deserved punishment'
Ursula von der Leyen attends a wreath-laying ceremony in Tallin, Estonia, on Friday
The president of the European Commission marks the anniversary of the conflict at the War of Independence Victory Column on Friday
Speaking about February 24, 2022, the date of the Russian invasion, Mr Zelensky said: '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.
'It was the longest day of our lives. The hardest day of our modern history. We woke up early and haven't fallen asleep since.'
On the first anniversary of the invasion, Ukrainians planned memorials and candle vigils for their tens of thousands of dead - a toll that continues to grow as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine.
However former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev today vowed Russia would win the war and was ready to fight up to Poland's borders if needed to counter 'threats'.
In a chilling message on social media site, Medvedev said: 'Victory will be achieved. This is why it is so important to reach all the goals of the special military operation. To push back the borders of the threats against our country as far as possible, even if this is to the borders of Poland.'
It came as China called for a ceasefire between the two nations - an idea previously rejected by Ukraine for fear it would allow Russia to regroup militarily after bruising battlefield setbacks.
A 12-point paper issued this morning by China's foreign ministry also called for the end of Western sanctions that are squeezing Russia's economy.
In Ukraine, there were concerns that Russia might unleash another barrage of missiles against Ukraine to pile yet more sadness on the grim day.
Mercifully, air raid alarms did not sound overnight in the capital, Kyiv, but the government recommended that schools move classes online and office employees work from home.
Tributes to Ukraine poured in from overseas with the Eiffel Tower lit up yellow and blue - the colours of the Ukrainian flag.
Nato said it was 'resolute' in supporting Ukraine while German chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted that Putin will not reach his aims in Ukraine.
'The earlier the Russian president realises that he will not reach his imperialistic goal, the bigger the chance that the war will end soon. Putin has it in his hands. He can end this war,' said Mr Scholz.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the 'heroic' fighting spirit of Ukrainians, adding: 'One year of brutal Russian aggression. One year of heroic Ukrainian resistance. One year of European solidarity. Ahead of us is a future of unity.
'You are fighting for freedom, for democracy, and for your place in the European Union. We are with you, for as long as it takes.'
Mr Zelensky attends a commemorative event in Kyiv on Friday
Mr Zelensky gives the award of Hero of Ukraine to relatives of a soldier who was killed on the frontline
Commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces Valery Zaluzhny, right, talks to an officer during a commemorative event
Paramedics move a Ukrainian soldier wounded at the Bakhmut frontline to a field hospital on Thursday
A Ukrainian army serviceman lies in a newly dug trench as troops fire an anti-tank grenade launcher towards a Russian position, near Bakhmut on February 23
In a tweet, Mr Zelensky said 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.'
In the year since, the world has watched in horror as Putin's soldiers have dropped missiles on apartment buildings, tortured civilians before shooting them dead, and systematically raped women and girls.
Men, women and children - the youngest known victim being a 14-year-old boy - have been executed by Russian soldiers, their bodies thrown into deep troughs dug into the ground.
The scale of the suffering and the indiscriminate targeting of men, women and children has seen at least 7,000 civilians killed and nearly eight million Ukrainians flee to countries across Europe.
When the first air strikes hit Ukrainian cities a year ago today, hundreds of thousands fled across the border to neighbouring countries. Thousands more had fled in the days leading up to the invasion, fearing the worst.
Emotional scenes at train stations showed fathers waving tearful goodbyes to their wives and children before returning to fight for Ukraine. Some families have been torn apart forever, with tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers killed so far.
For those Ukrainians who have stayed in Ukraine, they have seen their homes and towns razed and their loved ones killed or wounded by Russian missiles.
In March last year, a month into the war, Russian soldiers unleashed a series of indiscriminate bombs on civilian areas, leaving death and destruction in their wake.
During a three-month siege in the southern city of Mariupol, Russian forces levelled the city and killed hundreds of civilians in missile attacks. The world watched in horror as Russian forces bombed a maternity hospital on March 9, killing a pregnant woman and her baby, and wounding at least 17 people.
A week later, Russian aircraft again dropped missiles on civilian areas - this time on the Donetsk Regional Theatre in Mariupol, which was housing hundreds of civilians and had 'children' written in large white letters outside. At least a dozen people were killed and scores more were injured in the attack.
The attacks on civilians continue. Last month, on January 14, a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the city of Dnipro killed at least 44 people, including five children, and injured 79 people.
Ukrainian troops and their UK military instructors mark one year since the start of the war at Lydd army camp in Kent
Ukrainian military recruits take part in prayers, blessings and a one-minute silence alongside British and Canadian troops
Since October, Russian forces have also repeatedly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, plunging cities into darkness and leaving millions without heat during the bitterly cold winter months.
In the early months of the war, Russian forces were forced to retreat from towns and cities across Ukraine - but as they retreated, the war crimes they have committed against civilians has become clear.
Since March, mass graves have been filled with the bodies of thousands of civilians, many with their hands tied behind their backs, along with torture chambers discovered in liberated areas of Ukraine in areas across the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions - including the cities of Bucha, Irpin and Izyum.
Mr Zelensky was visibly emotional and stood motionless as he surveyed the scene of utter devastation he encountered when he visited Bucha in April last year, with dozens of bodies shot at close range lying on the empty streets.
The civilians who survived have detailed how Russian soldiers detained them for months and subjected them to electric shocks, waterboarding and beatings.
Horrific testimonies - including how Russian soldiers gang-raped a 22-year-old Ukrainian mother, sexually abused her husband and made the couple have sex in front of them before raping their four-year-old daughter - have also shown how Putin's men have used rape as a weapon of war.
In many cases, the Russian soldiers would shoot dead the women's husbands - or threaten to do so - as soon as they tried to defend their wives and stop them from being raped.
Russian soldiers have also detained more than 20,000 Ukrainian 'hostages' and sent them to Russia, Ukraine's human rights envoy said last month.
In response, economic and diplomatic repercussions have rippled across the globe.
The West has continued to hit Moscow with sanctions, cutting its biggest banks off from the Swift financial network, curbing its access to technology and restricting its ability to export oil and gas.
A Ukrainian national flag flies from the Reichstag building in Berlin
As a result of the crippling sanctions, Russia was forced to miss a key payment deadline in June, meaning Moscow defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time since the Bolshevik coup more than a century ago.
Moscow has retaliated to the Western sanctions by cutting off the supplies of cheap natural gas to European countries, driving up inflation and energy prices there. European officials accused Russia of 'energy blackmail' after its state-owned gas exporter Gazprom closed its Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany.
Higher costs for energy and food have destabilised business activity around the world.
While Western nations are supporting Ukraine militarily, financially and politically, 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.
And in a blow to the West, the Kremlin has sought to replace revenues lost from its oil and gas exports to Europe with a pivot to China, India and other Asian countries. Trade between Russia and China hit a record high of $190billion last year
Volodymyr Zelensky's full speech
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11788139/Ukraine-war-President-Zelensky-marks-anniversary-Russias-invasion-defiant-message.html
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