Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has told Russians that their leader is destroying their country., He spoke after Vladimir Putin delivered a New Year address flanked by people in military ...
Zelensky, Putin promise victory in contrasting New Year speeches
7:23 pm on 1 January 2023
A combined photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AFP
The leaders of Ukraine and Russia both vowed to push for victory in New Year speeches, but while Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of gratitude and pain, Vladimir Putin urged duty to Russia, casting the war as a near-existential fight.
- Zelensky, recalling some of the most dramatic moments and victories of the war, filled his emotional 17-minute video message with footage of Russia's attacks on the country and words of pride for Ukrainians withstanding attacks, darkness and cold.
- "We were told: you have no other option but to surrender. We say: we have no other option than to win," said Zelensky, dressed in his trademark khaki outfit and standing in darkness with the Ukrainian flag fluttering behind.
- "We fight as one team - the whole country, all our regions. I admire you all."
A few minutes after Zelensky's speech - released just before midnight Kyiv time on New Year's Eve - numerous blasts were heard in the capital and around the country. The attacks followed a barrage of more than 20 cruise missiles fired across Ukraine on Saturday - and many bombardments earlier.
As the war drags into its 11th month, Moscow was unprepared for the staunch resistance and billions of dollars in Western weapons that have turned the tide in Ukraine's favor.
Russian troops have been forced out of more than half the territory they took in the first weeks of what Putin calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" and demilitarise Ukraine. Kyiv and Western allies say Putin's invasion was a land grab.
Putin, breaking with tradition by delivering the New Year message flanked by troops rather than the Kremlin's walls, talked sternly and combatively about 2022 as the year that "clearly separated courage and heroism from betrayal and cowardice."
- While trying to rally support among Russians amid embarrassing battlefield setbacks and growing internal criticism of his military strategy, Putin thanked Russian troops, but he also demanded more from them.
- "The main thing is the fate of Russia," Putin, dressed in a dark suit and tie, said.
- "Defense of the fatherland is our sacred duty to our ancestors and descendants. Moral, historical righteousness is on our side."
Russia had planned a swift operation, but with the war dragging on it has been forced to put society on more of a war footing: calling up more than 300,000 reservists, retooling an economy hurt by Western sanctions and saying publicly that the conflict may be long.
- Reiterating that the West is supposedly intent on "destroying Russia" by using Kyiv, Putin vowed he will never allow that. He signaled once again, that the war, albeit hard, will continue.
- "We have always known, and today we are again convinced that the sovereign, independent, secure future of Russia depends only on us, on our strength and will," he said.
Zelensky promised the return of lands Moscow proclaimed it had annexed in September.
"We fight and will continue to fight. For the sake of the key word: 'victory'."
- "It's impossible to forget. And it's impossible to forgive. But it's possible to win," he said.
- While Putin immediately blamed Kyiv for orchestrating the powerful blast, Ukraine had not previously claimed responsibility for it - or any other attacks inside Russia, since Russia's 24 February invasion.
"We fight and will continue to fight. For the sake of the key word: 'victory'."
- Reuters
MOSCOW, Dec 31, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - President Vladimir Putin praised the Russian army in his New Year's Eve address Sunday, calling for "unity" in a scaled-back speech that did not explicitly mention the conflict in Ukraine.
It is aired just before midnight in each of Russia's 11 timezones, and is usually a summary of events of the past year as well as wishes for the year ahead.
- In stark contrast to last year, when the Kremlin chief was flanked by soldiers in uniform, Putin described 2024 as the "year of the family" in front of the traditional backdrop of the Kremlin.
- "We have repeatedly proved that we are able to solve the most difficult tasks and will never back down, because there is no force that can separate us," Putin said in the address, aired on state TV.
- "To all those who are on duty, on the front line of the fight for truth and justice," Putin said, "you are our heroes.
- Our hearts are with you. We are proud of you, we admire your courage."
It is aired just before midnight in each of Russia's 11 timezones, and is usually a summary of events of the past year as well as wishes for the year ahead.
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