Kremlin chief Putin justifies the aggressive war against Ukraine as "morally" and "historically" correct. President Zelenskyj's reply follows a little later. In his video message he also addresses the Russian people.
After the recent Russian rocket attack on Ukrainian cities with new destruction, Head of State Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Russian people directly in his video message. "A terrorist state will not be forgiven," he said in his somewhat premature daily video appearance this afternoon. "And those who order such attacks and those who carry them out will not be forgiven, to say the least."
In Russian, Zelenskyy declared that Russia was not at war with NATO "as your propagandists lie". The war is also not for something historic, he said, referring directly to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who declared in his New Year's speech that Russia was on the right side in the conflict "morally" and "historically".
"It (the war) is for a person to remain in power until the end of his life," said Zelenskyy, referring to Putin. "And what's left of all of you, citizens of Russia, he doesn't care." Putin wants to show that he has the military behind him and is ahead. "But he's just hiding," said Zelenskyj. "He hides behind the military, behind rockets, behind the walls of his residences and palaces, he hides behind you and burns your country and your future."
Nobody will ever forgive Russia for terrorism, Zelensky said. "Nobody in the world will forgive you for that. Ukraine will never forgive you." Russia's army invaded Ukraine on February 24 under the pretext of wanting to "denazify and demilitarize" the neighboring country. Tens of thousands of people have died in the war so far. In Russia, the official language of the invasion is still "special military operation," and public use of the term "war" is even punishable under criminal law.
According to the authorities, the most recent Russian rocket attacks on Ukraine shortly before the New Year resulted in deaths and injuries. Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced in Kyiv on Saturday that an elderly man was killed in the capital and 16 people were injured. One dead person was also reported from the Zaporizhia region. According to Commander-in-Chief Valery Zalushny, there were a total of 20 rocket attacks in the country, 12 of which were intercepted, 6 of them in Kyiv alone.
