Zelenskyy says war has ‘returned’ to Russia in Independence Day address

Kyiv (AFP): President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russia wanted to “destroy” Ukraine but that war has “returned to its home,” in an Ukrainian Independence Day video address he said was recorded from where Kyiv launched its surprise incursion into Russia.

Kyiv celebrates independence from the Soviet Union as the long war with Russia has reached a dramatic moment, with Ukrainian forces mounting an incursion in Russia’s Kursk region and Moscow eyeing more east Ukrainian towns.

Zelenskyy published a video from a deserted, forested area in the Sumy region, which he visited earlier this week, saying it was a “few kilometers” from where Ukrainian forces shocked the world on August 6 by crossing into Russia.

The war-time leader said Kyiv “surprises once again” and vowed that Russia “will know what retribution is.”

By launching its 2022 invasion, he said “Russia was seeking one thing: to destroy us. Instead, today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine. And what the enemy brought to our land has now returned to its home.”

“Anyone who wants to sow evil on our land will reap its fruit on their territory,” he added. “This is not a prediction, not gloating, not blind revenge. It is justice.”

Zelenskyy called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “sick old man from Red Square who constantly threatens everyone with the red button.”

Ukraine’s Kursk incursion has rattled Moscow, but not slowed Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine.