Volodymyr Zelensky guarantees victory as Ukraine marks two years since Russian invasion | EUROtoday

“Your courage stood in Putin’s way. You didn’t run and you didn’t flinch. A small force of Ukrainian heroes held off the invader, fighting until their last bullet and their last breath,” Ms von der Leyen stated.

But whereas a yr in the past Ukraine and its backers have been celebrating battlefield successes, they’re now on the again foot after the failure of a much-hyped summer time counter-offensive.

Russia’s forces have been taking floor from Ukraine’s army which has complained that they’ve practically run out of ammunition as Western provides gradual.

In a video message, Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary basic, stated that Ukraine was on target to affix the alliance however he additionally described information of Russian advances as “extremely serious”.

“As we prepare you for that day, Nato will continue to stand with Ukraine,” he stated.

Boris Johnson visited Kyiv on Saturday to satisfy Volodymyr Zelensky.

The former prime minister renewed his name for Ukraine’s allies to ship it extra weapons.

“They need artillery shells and long range artillery of all kinds,” he stated. “It is ridiculous to argue that giving them weapons is provocative or an escalation.

Russia’s troops, he added, “are firing 10 times as many shells in some places”.

“How can we look these soldiers in the eye and say we are doing enough?”

Last week Russian troopers claimed the Kremlin’s first battlefield victory since May with the seize of the city of Avdiivka, though analysts described this as a Pyrrhic victory as a result of 17,000 Russian troopers had been killed in the course of the takeover of the destroyed city.