Zelensky warned that Russia is preparing a military action to avenge its defeats of the last year

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky. (Reuters)

The President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, warned this Sunday about the risk that the Russian Armed Forces are preparing “something symbolic” coinciding with the first anniversary of the start of the invasion, with the aim of “avenging the defeats of the last year”. .

“We see more pressure in various areas of the combat front, as well as pressure in the field of information,” Zelensky said, in a speech in which he acknowledged “tough battles” in the Donetsk region, where the situation remains “very difficult”.

“It doesn’t matter how hard it is and how much pressure there is. We can with it”, said the Ukrainian president, who immediately advocated continuing to increase the war capacity on the front while trying to “strengthen the international position”.

The Ukrainian president, who requested all kinds of assistance from his international allies, thus insisted on the need to continue fighting: “We have no alternative but to defend ourselves and win.”

Zelensky also took advantage of his speech to once again demand the veto of Russian athletes in the Paris Olympic Games, to prevent Moscow from using the Olympics in favor of its “propaganda”. In his opinion, “representatives of a terrorist state should have no place in the Olympic Games and in international competitions.”

The president focused on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but also on the companies linked to this body and that they would not want their “reputation” to be tarnished by the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Ukraine has warned that Russia is preparing a military action to avenge its defeats of the past year. (REUTERS/Yan Dobronosov)

Separately, the United States announced on Friday a new assistance package for Ukraine of $2.2 billion in weapons and ammunition. Meanwhile, France and Italy have agreed to supply mobile surface-to-air missile systems to kyiv, the French Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The list includes more munitions for HIMARS rocket systems, which have allowed Ukraine’s forces to target behind Russian lines, more air defense units and armored vehicles, the Pentagon’s Defense Department said.

The new package includes a new rocket-propelled precision bomb that could nearly double the range of kyiv’s strikes against the Russians, the Pentagon has reported.

Defense Ministry spokesman Pat Ryder said the new package includes ground-launched small diameter bombs (GLSDBs), a munition that can fly up to 150 kilometers, threatening Russian positions and depots far behind the front lines. .

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, the US has allocated $29.3 billion in military aid to kyiv, making it the country that has provided the most aid to Ukraine since the start of the war.

In recent weeks, Washington reported the shipment of 31 Abrams tanks to kyiv, after Western allies such as Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain announced that they were going to send main battle tanks to Ukraine. The US also announced the supply to the European country of Patriot anti-missile batteries.

(With information from Europa Press)

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