Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has become the face of Ukrainian resistance around the world, has made it his goal to defeat the Russian giant “this year”. “If the partners keep their word and meet the deadlines, an inevitable victory awaits us,” he said at a press conference marking the first anniversary of the Russian invasion this afternoon. “If General (and American Chief of Staff Mark) Milley wants us to repel the enemy faster, he has to speed up the delivery of weapons,” he added, sitting in an armchair, dressed in a black sweater and khaki pants, flag and coat of arms of the Ukraine behind him.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki earlier announced during a visit to Kiev the arrival of the first four Leopard 2 main battle tanks and that more tanks would arrive “in a few days”. He also said Poland is “ready” to train Ukrainian pilots on American F16s, planes that Ukraine has been asking for unsuccessfully for months.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov said in the morning that he would work “hard” on a counter-offensive to hit Russia “in the air, on land and at sea”.