President Volodymyr Zelensky struck notes of defiance and gratitude in his nightly address to Ukraine on Sunday, using the platform he established at the start of the war with Russia to boost the morale of Ukrainian citizens and set the tone for the year ahead.
“They are afraid. You can feel it,” Zelensky said of Russian forces.
“And they are right to be afraid. Because they are losing. Drones, missiles, and anything else will not help them. Because we are together. And they are together only with fear.”
Zelensky has proved adept at rallying support both at home and abroad over video. His first nightly address of 2023 built on the previous day’s rousing New Year’s Eve message, which recounted the nation’s milestones of grief and triumphs over the past year.
He has also met with many politicians and celebrities in Kyiv during the war, and made a highly publicized visit to Washington less than two weeks ago, his first trip out of Ukraine since the war started, which lifted spirits back home.
On Saturday, Russia rained missiles and exploding drones down on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in a New Year’s Eve assault, killing at least one person and causing crews to pre-emptively shut off the electricity.
By Sunday, power had been restored to most of Kyiv’s residents, Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said in a statement posted on Telegram. But in the hours after Zelensky’s Sunday address, Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital again with more exploding drones, which Klitschko said damaged energy infrastructure facilities.
Zelensky made little mention of the previous night’s attack, focusing his address instead on the will of the public, contrasting Ukraine’s “sense of unity,” way of life and “authenticity” with those of Russia.
He also thanked Ukrainian soldiers and utility workers who have been repairing the country’s battered energy grid. But he hinted that the resilience that had defined the past 10 months would have to continue.
“It is very important how all Ukrainians recharged their inner energy this New Year’s Eve,” he said.
New York Times News Service
