Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion on 24 February by recording a video address in which he walked through the bunker on Bankova Street where he spent the first days of the war, according to the presidential office.
"Today it's been exactly four years since Putin takes Kyiv in three days. And this actually says a lot about our resistance, about how Ukraine has been fighting all this time. Behind these words are millions of our people. Behind these words are great courage, very hard work, endurance, and a long road that Ukraine has been traveling since 24 February," Zelenskyy said.
In the video, the president showed the long corridors and offices of the bunker where he and hundreds of others held "daily meetings with the military, phone calls, search for solutions" — and where he called world leaders to ask for weapons.
Zelenskyy recalled the first days of the invasion, when Ukrainians defied expectations of a swift Russian victory. "Our people did not raise a white flag but defended the blue-and-yellow one. And the occupiers, who thought they would be greeted with lines of flowers, saw lines at military recruitment offices," he said. Civilians "stopped columns of military equipment with a living wall," and together "showed lost Russia the only right direction," according to the president's address.
He then turned to the cost of the war, naming Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka, Mariupol and other towns where the first victims of Russian aggression were found — mass graves, strikes on residential buildings and maternity hospitals. "Men don't fight like that. People don't act like that. Ukrainians will not forget this. And let these images be seen by everyone whose conscience doesn't bother them, who still extends a hand to Russian evil and still buys oil from Putin," Zelenskyy stated.
The president outlined Ukraine's military trajectory: from receiving body armor in the early days to now operating Patriot, IRIS-T, and NASAMS air defense systems, F-16 fighter jets, domestically produced weapons including long-range ones, and manufacturing over 3 million FPV drones per year. Ukraine is now capable of shooting down hundreds of Shaheds in a single night and conducting operations such as the Kursk incursion and "Pavutyna" ("Web"), he noted.
Zelenskyy paid tribute to fallen soldiers and addressed the Ukrainian people directly: "The strength that has held us together all these years is you, our people. Our resistance is you." He thanked every soldier "for strength," their families "for endurance," and everyone "whose labor makes Ukraine stronger."
"I am proud of you. I believe in every single one of you. In all of you, to whom without any exaggeration I have the honor to address: great people of great Ukraine," the president said.
Zelenskyy acknowledged that Ukraine is enduring "the hardest winter in history" but noted that "spring is less than a week away."
He concluded: "Putin has not achieved his goals. Has not broken the Ukrainians. Has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace. And for there to be justice."
