Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy says Ukraine is a global leader, urges lawmakers to stay united

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a speech to the country’s parliament, urging the chamber’s lawmakers to remain united amidst continued aggression from Russia. Zelenskyy declared that Ukraine was a global leader and its resistance to Russia helped inspire many all over the world.

Zelenskyy delivered his annual speech to the Ukrainian parliament, called the Verkhovna Rada, on Wednesday, now held behind closed doors due to the war. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine’s military resistance against Russian aggression has helped reinvigorate a belief in values all over the world. The Ukrainian leader also called on the lawmakers to stay united in the face of Russia’s aggression.

“Thanks to our unity we achieved that which almost no one in the world believed. Almost no one – except us,” said Zelenskyy. “Our national colors are today an international symbol of courage and indomitability of the whole world.”

Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian war efforts helped unite the European Union, with Ukraine having applied to join the bloc this year as well as the NATO military alliance.

“Ukraine became one of the global leaders,” said Zelenskyy. “Over 10 months of this year, we helped everyone. We helped the West find itself again, to return to the global arena, and feel how much the West prevails. No one in the West fears nor will they fear Russia.”

While Zelenskyy’s remarks were mostly about the war, the Ukrainian leader also used the end-of-year speech to outline ideas such as decentralizing the energy system and making it more sustainable in order for Ukraine to become a prosperous state. Zelenskyy also thanked the West for providing weapons and said that Ukraine would start a domestic defense industry that would become “one of the most powerful in Europe and the world.”

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would increase the number of Starlink internet service terminals to over 30,000 as the internet service has helped Ukrainians in badly devastated areas.

On Friday, residents in the capital Kyiv were urged to proceed to air raid shelters as air raid sirens sounded the alarm following Russia’s largest air strike across Ukraine the previous day. The regional governor of Kyiv, Olekskiy Kuleba, said in a post on the Telegram messaging platform that a drone strike was being carried out.