KYIV: Ukraine said Tuesday that its forces would never surrender to Russia, 1,000 days after Moscow launched its brutal invasion. The grim anniversary opened with an overnight Russian strike in the eastern Ukrainian region of Sumy that gutted a Soviet-era resident building and killed 12 people, including a child. It was third Russian strike in as many days.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy published images of rescue workers hauling bodies from the debris and called on Kyiv’s allies to “force” the Kremlin into peace. In an hour-long speech in parliament, he set out what he called a “resilience plan” for the country as a domestic foil to the “victory plan” he pitched to Western allies earlier in the autumn. Though he said the details of the plan would be disclosed later in the year, it comprises steps to stabilise the frontline, support military innovation and arms output as well as steps to shore up national unity and cultural identity.
The foreign ministry echoed Zelenskyy by calling on allies to ramp up military support. “Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers, and the Russian military will be punished for violating international law.”
The comments came as Russian lowered its threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. UK PM Keir Starmer denounced the revised Nuclear-doctrine as the “latest example of irresponsibility” from “the depraved Russia government”. German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said her country would not be intimidated by the new policy.
