| Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presents a medal to a soldier during a surprise visit to the southern frontline in Mykolayu on the 18th (local time). © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the 19th (local time): “We will not give the South free to anyone, all our territories will return and the seas will be safe.”
According to the AFP news agency, President Zelensky made this statement in a video posted on his Telegram after visiting Mikolaiu, the main southern front, and the neighboring Odessa area on the same day, and returning to the capital Kiiu.
For the first time since the start of the war, President Zelensky made a surprise visit to Mykolayu, the southern frontier, about 550 km south of the capital Kiiu the day before, and the neighboring Odessa region.
Here, he met soldiers and police who were fighting fiercely to boost morale. “The atmosphere was confident and it was clear from their eyes that they did not doubt our victory,” he said.
He also visited a municipal hospital and encouraged the medical staff. I toured the destroyed areas and buildings, including the state government building, where 37 people were killed in a missile attack by Russian forces in late March.
At the site presumed to be an underground shelter, they discussed economic issues, agricultural conditions, and restoration of water facilities with Goryeoin Governor Vitali Kim and Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich.
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| © News1 Designer Lee Ji-won |
Southern Mykolayu is on the way to Odessa, a major port on the Black Sea, making it one of Russia’s main target points of attack. It is adjacent to the Russian-occupied Kherson Province.
Since the start of the war, Russian attacks have not ceased here, and in early March, the Russian army entered the outskirts of Mykolaywu city and retreated after a counterattack by the Ukrainian forces. Two people were killed and 20 others were injured in the Russian shelling the day before, AFP said.
President Zelensky visited Kharkiv in the northeast on the 29th of last month, Zaporizan, a battlefield in the eastern Donbas region on the 5th, and Bakhmut and Lisichansk on the 6th, without notice. It is taking a broad stride.
Regarding President Zelensky’s actions, the New York Times (NYT) said, “The purpose of the Ukrainian military is to show that the Ukrainian military has the initiative in the region and to increase the morale of the military.” It is a move to divert attention to some areas that have produced
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| Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky poses with a soldier during a surprise visit to the southern frontline in Mykolayu on the 18th (local time). © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned that the Ukraine war could last for years and urged people to prepare for a long-term war, Reuters reported.
“We have to be prepared for the fact that it may take several years for the war to end,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with German daily Bild. Rado’s aid to Ukraine must not be loosened,” he said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who made a surprise visit to Kiiwu on the 17th, also mentioned the need for long-term warfare on the 17th.
“Time is an important factor,” he told The Sunday Times. “It all depends on Ukraine strengthening its territorial defenses faster than Russia regaining offensive capabilities.”
“We need to ensure that Ukraine gets access to weapons, equipment, ammunition and military training faster than Russia,” he said.
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| Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shakes hands with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who made his second surprise visit to Kiiu since the start of the war. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
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