annie🇺🇦💙💛💙💛

Today is the Day of Remembrance for the Children Killed by Russia. Officially, it has a different name. But in the language of truth, this is exactly what it is. This day is about the most painful episodes of the war, about the greatest injustice and the evil Russia inflicts when the most vulnerable and the most innocent are killed. Children. Currently, that figure is at least 707 Ukrainian children. And there are also thousands of children whom Russia has wounded, abducted, and thousands of children whose fate remains unknown. These are important and horrifying figures, but behind them lies something greater than statistics about Russian crimes alone. These were children's dreams, plans, and hopes that were simply erased. This is the pain of every mother and every father who does not know how to go on living with that. Living with such pain. Our Ukrainian children. Some were only a few days old. Some had just started first grade. Others should have been celebrating their graduation. This is who a sick state is waging war against. This is who the so-called second army of the world is fighting – an army incapable of winning on the battlefield and seeking to assert itself by targeting children. Eternal memory to every child who was killed. It is our enduring duty to remember, to protect our children, and to do everything possible to ensure that the evil Russia has brought is punished.

Today in Ukraine is another very hard day, really hard night – the day after a massive Russian attack. In just one night, there were nearly 300 attack drones, 19 ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles. Air-raid sirens sounded across many of our cities. And this came after waves of “shaheds” had filled our skies just yesterday. Dozens of people have been injured. And sadly, so sadly, there are also lives lost in Odesa, Kyiv, in Dnipro. Just ordinary people, children, civilians, killed by Russian madness. If it’s possible, please, I ask you now to honor their memory, and all those whose lives have been taken by this terrible war, with a minute of silence. Thank you. From my address to the participants of the Four Freedoms Awards ceremony (1/3).

The strength and role of Ukrainian women are not about just one day. They are about all 365 days of the year. Ukrainian women defend the country, wait for their loved ones and support them, raise children amid difficult wartime conditions, create, research, rescue, teach, and heal. Thank you for your determination, leadership, care, and professionalism. Thank you for everything you do every day.

Today marks exactly four years since Putin started his three-day push to take Kyiv. And that says a great deal about our resistance, about how Ukraine has fought all this time. Behind those words stand millions of our people, immense courage, incredibly hard work, endurance, and the long path Ukraine has been pursuing since February 24. Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: we have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood; Putin has not achieved his goals. He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to secure peace and justice. Glory to Ukraine!