President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday promoted a newly developed Ukrainian “drone missile” that he said would turn the war back on Russia and derided Russian President Vladimir Putin as the “sick old man of Red Square.”
As Ukraine marked 33 years of independence from the Soviet Union, Mr Zelensky said the new weapon, Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically-made drones Kiev has so far used to fight Russia, attacking its oil refineries and military airbases.
“Our enemies will know what Ukraine’s method of retaliation is: Qualified, symmetrical, long-range,” he said.
Mr Zelensky said the new class of Ukrainian weapon had been used in a successful attack on a target in Russia, but did not say where.
He used sarcastic language to mock Russia’s 71-year-old president and the nuclear rhetoric coming from Moscow.
“A sick old man from Red Square, who constantly threatens everyone with the red button, will not tell us any of his red lines,” he said in a video on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia, which has attacked Ukraine with thousands of missiles and drones since it invaded in February 2022, has described Ukraine’s drone attacks as terrorism. Moscow’s forces are advancing in Ukraine’s east and have seized 18% of the country.
Mr. Zelensky has been pressing Kiev’s allies to allow him to use Western weapons on Russian territory, such as striking airbases used by Russian warplanes that attack Ukraine with missiles and glide bombs.
“I want to emphasize once again that our new weapons decisions, including Palianitsia, are our realistic way of acting, while some of our partners are unfortunately delaying making decisions,” Mr. Zelenskyy said at a press conference.
Ukrainians say the word “palianytsia,” a type of Ukrainian bread, is very difficult for Russians to pronounce and was used — sometimes humorously — during the war to distinguish between Ukrainians and Russians.
“It will be very, very hard for Russia to even tell what exactly hit it,” Mr. Zelenskyy said of the drone missile.
Promoted to top commander
In an order, Mr. Zelensky promoted his top commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Sirsky, to the rank of general, a tacit sign of praise after Ukraine’s rapid cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on August 6.
Considered a blatant and major provocation by Russia, Kiev says the Ukrainian invasion has led to the occupation of more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region, the largest invasion of Russia since World War II.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the leaders of Poland and Lithuania, Mr Zelensky told reporters the operation was a preventive move to stop Russia’s plan to capture the northern city of Sumy.
Mr. Zelenskyy said that besides capturing prisoners of war and creating a “buffer zone,” the operation had other objectives he could not disclose publicly.
The significance of Independence Day for Ukrainians has increased during the invasion, fueling widespread patriotic sentiment.
The public holiday was postponed this year because the US and German embassies issued warnings of the increased threat of Russian missile and drone attacks across the country.
There had been no major attacks by 6pm local time, but an air raid siren sounded in Kiev in the late afternoon.
To mark this date, Mr. Zelensky ratified the Treaty of Rome, paving the way for Ukraine to join the International Criminal Court, one of several steps needed to join the EU, which Kiev sees as a priority.
He also signed a law restricting the activities of Russia-linked religious groups, creating a legal means for the government to ban a branch of the Orthodox Church linked to Russia.
Ukraine and Russia also said they had secured the release of 115 prisoners of war in exchange. The Russian Defense Ministry said its freed soldiers were captured during Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
