President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Ukraine's new “unmanned aerial missiles” or drones on Saturday, saying they would allow Ukraine to launch attacks on Russian territory. He also sarcastically derided Russian President Vladimir Putin as “the sick old man from Red Square.”
As Ukraine celebrated 33 years of post-Soviet independence, Zelenskyy said the new weapon, the Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically made drones Kyiv has used against Russia, attacking its oil refineries and military airfields.
“Our enemies will … know Ukraine's way of taking revenge. Decent, symmetrical, long-range,” he said.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine's new weapons had been successfully used against targets in Russia, but he did not disclose specific locations.
He used derogatory language to describe the 71-year-old Russian president and the nuclear rhetoric coming from Moscow.
“A sick old man from Red Square, who constantly threatens everyone with his red button, will not be able to set red lines for us,” he said in a video on the Telegram app.
Russia, which has attacked Ukraine with thousands of missiles and drones since its invasion in February 2022, has condemned the Ukrainian drone attacks as a form of terrorism. Moscow's forces have been advancing in eastern Ukraine and now control 18 percent of the country.
Zelenskyy urged Kyiv's allies to allow further use of Western weapons on Russian territory, such as attacking air bases used by Russian warplanes that have been shelling Ukraine with missiles and glide bombs.
“I would like to reiterate that our decision on new weapons, including Palianytsia, is our realistic approach to action, while some of our partners are unfortunately still delaying decisions,” Zelenskyy said at a press conference.
Ukrainians say the word “Palianytsia,” a type of Ukrainian bread, is too difficult for Russians to pronounce. The word was often used — sometimes jokingly — during the war as a way to distinguish between Ukrainians and Russians.
“It will be very difficult for Russia, even difficult to say what exactly hit them,” Zelenskyy said of the drone missile.
In a decree, Zelensky promoted his commander-in-chief, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, to general, a subtle nod to the success of Ukraine’s lightning cross-border offensive into Russia’s Kursk region on August 6.
Ukraine, which Russia has condemned as a major escalation and provocation, has captured more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region, Kyiv said, in Russia's largest invasion since World War II.
In a press conference with the leaders of Poland and Lithuania, Zelenskyy said the operation was largely aimed at preventing Russia from capturing the northern city of Sumy.
In addition to capturing prisoners of war and creating a “buffer zone,” Zelenskyy revealed that the operation also had other goals that he could not reveal to the public.
Russia strongly condemned the use of Western weapons in the attack, which Putin said would receive a “befitting response.”
Independence Day became even more important to Ukrainians during the invasion, sparking widespread patriotic sentiment.
To mark the date, Zelensky ratified the Rome Statute, which would allow Ukraine to join the International Criminal Court. The move is one of many steps needed to join the European Union, which Kyiv considers a priority.
He also signed a law banning the activities of religious groups linked to Russia, providing a legal basis for the government to ban branches of the Orthodox Church deemed affiliated with Russia. (ah/ft)
