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President Zelenskyy's New Year's address: `I want to wish all of us now one thing - victory' [1]
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Date: 2023-01-01
Screenshot from Ukrainian President Volodymyr New Year's address.
On New Year’s Eve, Russia fired dozens of drones and missiles at Kyiv and the surrounding region. The attack continued into the first hours of the New Year.
According to preliminary information, the Kyiv City Military Administration said that air defense forces had destroyed 32 of the Russian missiles and drones, Ukrainska Pravda reported..
In an inspirational New Year’s speech to the Ukrainian people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recounted how Ukrainians heroically came together “to fight as one team” and surprised the world by standing up against the invaders.
Here then is the full text of Zelenskyy’s New Year’s address. But I urge reaaders to watch the video of the speech which includes footage of the most momentous events since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24.
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New Year's address by President Volodymyr Zelensky
Dear Ukrainians!
This year started on February 24th. No prefaces or preludes. Sharp. Early. At 4 o'clock.
It was dark. It was loud. For many it was difficult, for others it was scary. 311 days have passed. We can still be dark, loud and difficult. But we will definitely never be afraid again. And never be ashamed.
This was our year. Year of Ukraine. Year of Ukrainians.
We woke up on February 24th. We are different. Another people. other Ukrainians. The first rockets finally destroyed the labyrinth of illusions. We have seen who is who. What friends, enemies, and most importantly, what we ourselves are capable of.
On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but a blue and yellow flag. Not an escape, but a meeting. Meeting the enemy. Resistance and struggle.
Explosions on February 24 deafened us. Since then, we have not heard everything. And we don't listen to everyone. We were told: you have no other options than to give up. We say: we have no other options than to win.
On February 24, we began to create our victory. Of the many bricks - hundreds of other victories.
We have overcome panic. They did not run away, but gathered. We have overcome doubt, despondency, fear. We believed in ourselves and in our strength. Armed Forces of Ukraine. Intelligence. National Guard. SBU. MTR. Border guards. Terodefence. air defense. Police. GSChS. All our defense and security forces. I'm proud of you all, our warriors!
This year can be called a year of losses for Ukraine, for the whole of Europe, for the whole world. But this is wrong. We shouldn't talk like that.
We haven't lost anything. We've been taken away. Ukraine did not lose sons and daughters - they were taken away by the killers. Ukrainians didn't lose their houses - they were destroyed by terrorists. We have not lost our lands - invaders have entered them. The world has not lost the world - Russia has destroyed it.
This year hurt us in the heart. We cried out all the tears. All prayers were shouted. 311 days. We have something to say about every minute. But most of the words are redundant. They are not needed. No need for explanations, decorations. Silence is needed. To hear. Pauses are needed. To realize.
Morning February 24th.
Gostomel. Bucha. Irpin. Borodyanka. Kharkov.
"Mriya".
Kramatorsk. Railway station. Toy.
Chernihiv.
Mariupol. Drama Theatre. The inscription "Children".
Olenevka.
Odessa. High-rise building. Girl. Three months.
Volnyansk. Maternity hospital. Baby. Two days.
Azovstal.
It's impossible to forget. And it's impossible to forgive. But it is possible to win.
We stood on our feet, because there was something that kept us. Our spirit.
Defense of Kyiv.
Kharkov.
Nikolaev.
Chernobaevka.
Snake Island.
HIMARS.
Antonovsky bridge.
"Bavovna".
Crimean bridge.
"Neptune".
Cruiser Moscow.
Russian warship.
Izyum, Balakleya and Kupyansk.
Kherson.
And we pray that there will be Kremennaya and Svatovo, Melitopol, the whole Donbass, Crimea.
We fight and we will fight on. For the sake of the main word: "victory".
She definitely will. We go to it 311 days.
They gave a lot of strength. But at the moment when it seems that you can no longer go further, remember that we have already passed with you.
I want to tell all of you: Ukrainians, you are incredible! Look what we have done and what we are doing!
How our warriors from the first days smash this "second army of the world."
How our people stopped the columns of their equipment.
How grandfather stopped the tank with his hands.
How a woman shot down a drone with a can of tomatoes.
As in the occupation they stole enemy tanks, armored personnel carriers, a helicopter, shells.
As they collected for hours on the "Shahed Catchers", sea drones, armored cars, fast and "Bayraktars".
How they withstood all threats, shelling, cluster bombs, cruise missiles, darkness and cold.
How they supported each other and the state.
Everyone matters in a war.
Who holds a weapon in his hands, the steering wheel of a car, the steering wheel of a ship or aircraft, a scalpel or a pointer.
Everyone who is behind a laptop, who manages a combine, a train.
Who is at the checkpoint and at the power plant.
Journalists and diplomats, public utilities and rescuers.
Everybody. Who works. Studying at university or school. And even those who are just learning to walk.
All this is for their sake. Our children. Our people. Our country.
There are no small deeds in a big war. There are no unnecessary ones. Each of us is a fighter. Each of us is a front. Each of us is the basis of defense.
We fight as one team - the whole country, all our regions. I admire you all. I want to thank every invincible region of Ukraine.
Kharkov. Mutilated but unbowed. You proved to the enemy that being close territorially does not mean being close mentally. Kharkiv is a Ukrainian city. Hero City.
Indestructible Nikolaev. Heroically withstands all blows. A city on a wave that overcomes all storms.
Sumy and Sumy. You were among the first to feel the full-scale invasion of the invaders. For them, the Sumy region has become a bone in the throat. Ordinary people made Molotov cocktails, burned enemy columns, took the first prisoners. Sumy is power.
Dnieper. Support and reliable rear of our front. You received people, you returned life to wounded soldiers. Despite the constant blows, the Dnieper lives.
Odessa. Sunny and friendly, now - a fortress. World Fortress. Which protects us and which protects the world. It feeds it by sending millions of tons of rescue by sea every day. Because she is Odessa-mother.
Kherson! You are heroic people! You have been under occupation for over eight months. No news. No connection. Cut off from Ukraine.
Thousands of you took to the streets against the Rashists. You did not know whether they see it in Ukraine, whether they know about it. The invaders lied to you that Ukraine has abandoned you and will not fight for you. But you believed and against all odds waited. The face of Kherson is slashed with shell fragments, but the main thing is that we celebrate the New Year free and together under blue and yellow flags. So, we will restore everything, we will rebuild everything. Just like Chernihiv and Zaporozhye, and Kramatorsk, and Bakhmut.
Those who have become a refuge for millions of Ukrainians are Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Vinnitsa. Those who receive and transfer millions of tons of aid from Europe and the world: Lviv, Uzhgorod, Chernivtsi, Lutsk. Thank you! Those who accept business, enterprises, universities in the evacuation: Khmelnitsky, Zhytomyr, Kropyvnytsky,Poltava, Cherkasy. Thank you!
And those who are waiting for Ukraine. And wait. Donbass, Luhansk region, Crimea. Thanks to you, our warriors!
And, of course, the Kiev region and Kyiv - our heart, which always beats thanks to you, all our Ukrainians!
We are all one family. One Ukraine.
This is the year when Ukraine changed the world. And the world opened Ukraine. We were told: capitulation. We have chosen a counteroffensive! We were told to make concessions and compromises. We are going to the European Union and NATO.
The world heard Ukraine. European Parliament, Bundestag, British Parliament, Knesset, US Congress.
The world felt Ukraine. Ukraine in the media. In the hearts of people. Top of Google search.
The world has seen Ukraine. On the main squares in Toronto, New York, London, Warsaw, Florence, Sydney and other cities.
Ukrainians surprise. Ukrainians are applauded. Ukrainians inspire.
Is there anything that can scare us? No. Is there someone who can stop us? No.
Because we are all together.
That's what we're fighting for. For each of us.
The best salute for us is in the warehouses of the occupiers. The best gift is the numbers in the report of the General Staff.
We do not know exactly what the new year 2023 will bring us. But ready for anything.
New achievements? We will be happy. New beats? We will be unshakable. Continuation of the fight? We will fight. And when we win, we'll hug.
Dear Ukrainians!
There are only a few minutes left before the new year. I want to wish all of us now one thing - victory. And this is the main point. One wish for all Ukrainians.
Let this year be the year of return. The return of our people. Warriors - to their families. Prisoners - in their homes. Settlers - to their Ukraine.
The return of our lands. And the temporarily occupied will be forever free.
Return to normal life. To happy moments without a curfew. To earthly joys without air alarms.
Returning what was stolen from us. Childhood of our children, calm old age of our parents.
So that during the holidays the grandchildren come to their grandparents. For watermelons in Kherson. And for cherries in Melitopol.
To keep our cities free. Our friends are true.
And so that in the reports, near the figure of 100 thousand destroyed enemies, thousands of units of destroyed Russian equipment, our main figure and main success - 603 thousand 628 square kilometers - should appear. Square of independent Ukraine, as it has been since 1991. As it will always be.
May the new year bring it all. We are ready to fight for it. That's why each of us is here. I'm here. We are here. Are you here. All here. We are all Ukraine.
Glory to Ukraine!
Happy New Year!
[END]
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