On the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Monday that Ukraine will not allow Russia to claim victory in WWII.
“Today we celebrate Victory Day over Nazism. We are proud of our ancestors who together with other nations in the anti-Hitler coalition defeated Nazism. And we will not allow anyone to annex this victory. We will not allow it to be appropriated,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelensky mentioned various Ukrainian towns and cities presently under Russian control, claiming that Ukrainians had driven Nazi Germany’s armies out of these areas during WWII.
“The names of these cities inspire us today. They give us faith that we will drive the occupiers from our land,” Zelensky said in the video address, listing Mariupol, Kherson, and the Crimean peninsula by name.