On November 19, 2024, we mark 1,000 days since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Despite countless challenges, Ukrainians have demonstrated unparalleled resilience and determination in defending their land, culture, and people. They have provided the world with extraordinary examples of courage, bravery, ingenuity, and unity in the face of a numerically superior and brutal enemy.
Through its aggression, Russia has ignited the first full-scale war in Europe in the 21st century, undermining the global collective security system established after World War II and disrupting the global balance of power.
However, it is important to remember that today also marks the 3,926th day since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war and Russia’s occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Crimea remains the starting point of Russia’s expansionist war against Ukraine and holds strategic significance for Russia in this bloody conflict.
Russia’s aggression is not merely about territorial conquest but the destruction of Ukraine’s national identity and the genocide of its people. In the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, Russian forces continue to perpetrate heinous crimes, including mass executions, deportations, and the looting of private property. Atrocities, war crimes, and acts of sexual violence committed by Russian occupiers in Ukraine have shocked the global community.
The advance of Russian troops has been slowed and halted thanks to the united efforts of Ukrainians defending their country within the ranks of Ukraine’s Security and Armed Forces. However, the aggressor state continues its barbaric shelling of Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, destroying civilian facilities and energy systems. Russian terrorists aim to create a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine, induce social chaos, destroy the economy, and render cities uninhabitable.
Ukraine is deeply grateful to its allies for their military, political, economic, financial, and humanitarian support. Nevertheless, achieving ultimate victory requires even more consolidated assistance, particularly in the military domain. This can be accomplished through the Victory Plan presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on October 16, 2024. The heroic resistance of Ukrainians is not just a fight for the physical survival of the Ukrainian people and the freedom of the country. In this war, Ukraine is defending its European choice, identity, and values, as well as global security. Ukraine’s victory is the cornerstone of global stability.