Ukraine ready to face any threat from Russia

In a 13-minute speech last weekend to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day, Zelensky stressed Moscow’s intention to “destroy” Ukraine but claimed the war had “come home,” Express reported.

He said: “Our enemy will know what the Ukrainian method of retaliation is… He will know that sooner or later a Ukrainian response will reach any point in the Russian Federation that is a source of danger to the life of our state or our people. And whoever wants to turn our territory into a buffer zone should think about preventing his country from becoming a buffer federation.”

Zelensky chose to record his speech from Sumy, a northeastern city near the Russian border where Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia on August 6.

The Ukrainian military claims control of more than 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory in Kursk. Recently, Ukraine has also carried out drone attacks targeting strategic bridges, Russian airfields and drone bases.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s top military commander, honored the soldiers who fought at Kursk with military decorations, stressing: “Our independence is in our blood. In the blood that flows in our veins, in the blood that our heroes shed for their homeland.”

As the offensive continues, Ukraine evacuates residents of Pokrovsk in the east of the country, just ten kilometers from Russian forces.