After returning from his trip to the south of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised protection to the threatened regions there and announced the recapture of areas already occupied by Russian troops. “We will not give the South to anyone. We will take back everything that belongs to us,” Zelenskyy said in a video speech last night. Ukraine will also restore safe access to the sea, he assured.
Ukrainians have more will to live than Russia has missiles, Zelensky said. Ukraine will do everything possible to resume food exports through ports as soon as this can be done safely with international aid.
Shortly after the start of the war, Russian troops took over much of southern Ukraine. During the advance, they conquered the entire Ukrainian coast of the Sea of Azov – where the Ukrainian defenders held out in the port city of Mariupol until May – and with the Kherson region, parts of the Ukrainian Black Sea coast. The Crimean Peninsula was annexed to Russia in 2014.