Ukraine is taking its complaint about the Russian war of aggression to the highest stage of world public opinion, in front of the United Nations General Assembly. It is an important day and he is preparing his subsequent speech via video link, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj about the start of the UN general debate in New York on Tuesday. “There will be important signals from our state,” he announced in a speech distributed from Kyiv on Monday evening.
The Ukrainian head of state is scheduled to speak on Wednesday – exceptionally via video link instead of at the lectern of the General Assembly. Russia had tried to only allow Zelenskyj to speak in the foreseeable, unlikely event that he would have come to New York in person. The member states rejected this condition with a majority, so that the Ukrainian head of state is now involved.
Zelenskyy also discussed the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which has been running since the beginning of September, with his military leadership on Monday. A campaign for rapid accession to Russia was launched in the Moscow-controlled separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Tuesday marks the 209th day since the Russian invasion began.
After consulting with his military officials, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian forces had a firm grip on the situation in the liberated areas near Kharkiv in the east. He thanked individual army brigades, but also the SBU secret service, whose leadership he replaced in July. In the meantime, the SBU is making sure “that the occupiers can’t stay anywhere on Ukrainian soil”.
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Keystone/EPA/Oleg Petrasyuk
At the same time, the head of state called for quick action: speed is important in stabilizing the liberated regions, in normalizing life there and in advancing the troops. Support from abroad must also keep up with this pace, he demanded.