Russian forces launched a deadly strike on a city in eastern Ukraine on Saturday morning as President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the 500th day of the war with a show of defiance, sharing a video of himself visiting Snake Island, a strip of land in the Black Sea that has become a potent symbol of his country’s resistance to the invasion.

At least eight civilians were killed and 13 others were injured when Russian forces shelled a residential area of the city of Lyman at around 10am (local time), Ukraine’s interior ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app. Rescue efforts continued, according to officials.

The midmorning attack was a grim reminder of the toll taken on Ukraine by 500 days of war. Zelensky paid tribute on Saturday to all those who have lost their lives, using the backdrop of Snake Island to underscore Ukrainian resolve.

At the start of the war in February, an audio recording captured Ukrainian border guards on the island, which is 20 miles off the coast of Odesa, defying an order by a Russian warship to surrender with a memorable burst of profanity that became a rallying cry, immortalised on stamps and on billboards around the country.

In the video posted on Saturday, Zelensky honoured the “heroes” who fought for Snake Island, calling the battle that ultimately forced Russian troops to withdraw last June “one of the most important” since the full-scale invasion.

“Although this is a small piece of land in the middle of our Black Sea, it is great proof that Ukraine will regain every bit of its territory,” Zelensky said in the video, which showed him clambering off a boat and across a rocky landscape to lay blue and yellow flowers at a memorial.

It was not immediately clear when the video was filmed: The Ukrainian leader has been on a tour of Nato countries this week to drum up support for his country’s bid to join the alliance ahead of a summit next week.

The war has reshaped Ukraine’s relationship with the world, adding momentum to its bid to join Nato and turning Zelensky into a diplomatic juggernaut.

New York Times News Service