Zelensky vows retribution for Russia, calls Putin a ‘sick man’ for nuclear threats
- Zelensky also announced that Ukrainian forces carried out ‘successful’ tests of a new drone missile and that the ‘enemy was defeated’
President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed more “retribution” against Russia Saturday and signed a law banning the Moscow branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church as the country celebrated its third independence day since the Russian invasion.
Zelensky released a video filmed in a forested border area from where Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia on August 6.
Independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 is being marked with the war at a particularly tense moment, with Ukraine pursuing its incursion into the Kursk region as Russia targets towns in eastern Ukraine.
Standing in a hilly area near where Ukrainian forces entered Russia, Zelensky 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.”
He called President Vladimir Putin a “sick man from Red Square who constantly threatens everyone with the red button”, referring to nuclear war. Zelensky vowed that Russia “will know what retribution is”.