Ukraine marks 33rd Independence anniversary as war against Russia rages

A somber atmosphere pervades Ukraine’s 33rd Independence Day Saturday, as the nation’s war against Russia’s aggression reaches a 30-month milestone.

A somber atmosphere pervades Ukraine’s 33rd Independence Day Saturday, as the nation’s war against Russia’s aggression reaches a 30-month milestone. No fireworks, parades or concerts are planned and instead Ukrainians will mark the day with commemorations for civilians and soldiers killed in the war.

Ukrainians have flooded social media with messages of gratitude and support, greeting each other and thanking the soldiers on the front lines. In the outpouring of unity, there’s a shared acknowledgment that the two-and-a-half years have been tough, with fatigue increasingly setting in.

“Independence is the silence we experience when we lose our people,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said to the nation. “Independence descends into the shelter during an air raid, only to endure and rise again and again to tell the enemy: You will achieve nothing.”

Zelenskyy pointed out that the war started by Russia has now spread to its own territory. “Those who seek to sow evil on our land will reap its fruits on their own soil,” he said, referring to Ukraine’s incursion earlier this month into Russia’s Kursk region.

The president symbolically chose to record his address in the northeastern town of Sumy, just a few kilometers (miles) from the Russian border, where Ukrainian forces crossed into Russia on August 6.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-33rd-independence-anniversary-russia-war-rcna168064

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