Day 46 of the war. Address of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Ukrainians

Ukrainians! Ukrainians! The bravest people, the best countries in the world. Another week of our struggle for freedom, for the state, is coming to an end. Another week where Ukraine lives, despite all of Russia's efforts to destroy us. We are defending ourselves, we are responding to strikes, developing our ties with partners, receiving aid, ensuring the world's maximum attention to our needs. We influence the global discussion, propose and promote new sanctions against the Russian Federation. We are doing everything to bring to justice every scoundrel who came to our land under the Russian flag and killed our people, tortured our people, destroyed our cities, looted and abused.

And what is Russia doing? What are its officials, its propagandists and ordinary people, who repeat what they heard on television, occupied with? They only make excuses and deny, try to shift responsibility, lie and have already lost touch with reality to such an extent that they accuse us of committing even that which is obvious to everyone in the world was done by the Russian troops themselves.

They speak about the killings in Bucha, that it wasn't them, but allegedly us, although it is obvious to all that people were killed while the Russian army controlled this city. They speak about the missile strike on Kramatorsk, that it wasn't them, but allegedly we ourselves, although it was their propagandists who announced this strike, although the missiles flew from territory controlled by them. And about any of our destroyed places, about any of our burned villages, they say the same thing, that it wasn't them either, but allegedly us. The Russian military has lied to the point where, after more than six weeks of war, they claim that they allegedly did not hit a single civilian object.

And do you know why this is so? Because it is cowardice. Total. Of everyone. From bottom to top. They are afraid to admit that all Russian policy toward Ukraine for decades was wrong and only destroyed everything Russia had in its relations with Ukraine from previous times. They are afraid to admit that for decades they made wrong bets and spent colossal resources supporting complete nobodies, whom they thought were allegedly future heroes of Ukrainian-Russian friendship.

And these nobodies were skilled in only one thing. In extracting money from Russia into their pockets. In order not to admit mistakes, they made new mistakes. They deprived themselves of any political tools and, unwilling to give up unrealistic ambitions, started this war. Moreover, as in everything else, they blamed us for the war starting. They seized Crimea, and we are allegedly to blame. They destroyed normal life in Donbas, and we are allegedly to blame.

They shot down the Malaysian Boeing, and we are allegedly to blame. For eight years they killed people, children on our land, and we are allegedly to blame. They destroyed the most powerful industrial region of Eastern Europe, and we are to blame. They broke the lives of millions of people, and we are allegedly to blame. They started a full-scale war against us, and we are allegedly to blame. They have already spent nearly two thousand missiles on strikes against Ukraine, countless air bombs, artillery shells, mines, and we are allegedly to blame. They tortured, they killed on our land, and we are to blame.

They deported hundreds, thousands of Ukrainians, Ukrainians, our children, and still, we are allegedly to blame. All this came from cowardice. When cowardice grows, it turns into a catastrophe. When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality, learn, they turn into monsters. And when the world ignores this, monsters decide that the world should adapt to them. Ukraine will stop all this. Nothing will help Russian cowardice.

The day will come when they will have to admit everything, admit the truth. And for this, all our forces and every minute—defense, diplomacy, economy, information confrontation, legal responsibility—we have algorithms of action in all directions. Every state official knows their tasks and must fulfill them 100 percent. The next week will be no less important than this one, or the previous one. It will be just as tense and even more responsible. Russia will be even more afraid, afraid to lose, afraid that the truth will have to be admitted. Russian troops will move to even more large-scale actions in the east of our state, they may use even more missiles against us, even more air bombs.

But we are preparing for these actions of theirs. We will respond, we will more actively ensure Ukraine is supplied with weapons, we will be more active in the international arena, we will be even more active informationally. I will continue to address the parliaments and peoples of the world. We will receive our partners, leaders of other states, in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

We will attract even more funds and resources to aid Ukraine. Of course, we will justify stronger sanctions against the RF, so that there is accountability, so that there is justice. If they were not afraid to admit their mistakes, tragic mistakes, terrible ones, they would have to. Because our courage and our truthfulness definitely prevail and will win. Today is the 12th anniversary of the plane crash near Smolensk, which took the lives of President Lech Kaczyński and representatives of the Polish elite. On this day, we are in solidarity with our Polish friends and allies, who stand firmly in opposing Russian aggression.

I spoke today with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about how to bring all those guilty of war crimes to justice. How to strengthen sanctions against Russia and how to force Russia to seek peace. I would like to note that recently the German position has been changing in favor of Ukraine.

I consider this absolutely logical. Since it is this course that is supported by the majority of the German people. I am grateful to him. But I expect that everything we agreed upon will be implemented. And this is very important. And a few minutes ago, preparing to record this address, I signed a decree on awarding state honors to our heroes. 18 defenders of Ukraine, five servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, three communications officers of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, 10 police officers.

Grateful to all our defenders. To all.

our female defenders. Grateful to all who are restoring life in the liberated territory of our state. Grateful to all who ensure our victory in the information confrontation. To all journalists. To all female journalists. To editors. To female editors. To the United News information marathon. To all our websites. To all media workers who do not let Russian propaganda win. Truth will prevail. Ukraine will win. For sure. Glory to Ukraine!