Volodymyr Zelensky made the declaration in a video address to the nation on Tuesday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The Ukrainian president said: “We are preparing for the return of our warriors to actions for the liberation of our land. We keep in mind this just goal of ours, and every day we are getting closer to its fulfillment.”
He added: “Ukraine will be free. All of Ukraine.”
‘Increasing intensity’ of fighting around Bakhmut
Describing the current situation on the frontlines, Zelensky said that “the most difficult situation is still Bakhmut and the battles that are important for the defence of the city.”
He stated: “Russia does not count people at all, sending them to constantly storm our positions. The intensity of fighting is only increasing.”
Zelensky stressed: “I thank all Ukrainian warriors who, despite this insane pressure from the occupier, are defending our positions and destroying the Russian army! I thank each and every one who supports our warriors!”
US does not expect Russia to make major gains in Ukraine in 2023: senior official
The United States does not expect Russian forces to make notable territorial gains in Ukraine over the near term, according to US Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl.
Appearing at a House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday, Kahl described the frontlines as “a grinding slog,” Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
Kahl told US lawmakers: “You may see small portions of territory change hands in the coming weeks and months. I do not think that there’s anything I see that suggests the Russians can sweep across Ukraine and make significant territorial gains anytime in the next year or so.”
During the hearing, the Pentagon official was asked repeatedly about sending jets to Ukraine, according to the Reuters news agency.
He stated: “It is a priority for the Ukrainians, but it is not one of their top three priorities.”
Military drone targets gas facility in Moscow region
A military unmanned aerial vehicle crashed on the edge of a forest in the vicinity of a gas compressor station near the Russian village of Gubastovo, less than 100 kilometres southeast of Moscow, according to Kremlin officials.
Although the UAV inflicted no damage, it appeared to target a major facility for pumping natural gas and represented the closest strike so far to the Russian capital, the AP news agency reported on Tuesday.
Russian reports said the drone that fell near Gubastovo was a small Ukrainian-made reconnaissance UAV capable of carrying about 20 kilograms of explosives and with a range of autonomous flight of up to 800 kilometres, according to the Associated Press.
The alleged attack near Gubastovo was one of several reports of successful or attempted drone strikes in at least four regions of Russia, The Guardian reported.
Ukraine will become NATO member in the ‘long term’: Stoltenberg
Ukraine will become a member of the NATO alliance in the “long term,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
He stressed that the “immediate priority” was for Ukraine to remain an independent country in the face of the Russian invasion, according to The Guardian.
Appearing at a joint news conference with Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Helsinki, the NATO chief said: “NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance, but at the same time that is a long-term perspective.”
Stoltenberg also said Finland and Sweden’s bids to join NATO were a “top priority” and that the Nordic countries had had the “quickest accession process in NATO’s modern history”.
Wednesday is day 371 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, president.gov.ua, The Guardian, Reuters, Associated Press, nato.int