PRESIDENT Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine “will definitely win” as he visited a frontline city in the south of the country yesterday.
The Ukrainian leader visited the Black Sea port city of Mykolaiv during a working visit to the region, in a rare trip outside the capital Kyiv.
He inspected a building destroyed by a Russian missile strike and also handed out medals to servicemen, according to a video posted to his official Telegram account.
“Our brave men. Each one of them is working flat out,” he said. “We will definitely hold out. We will definitely win.”
His visit took place the day after two people were killed and 20 people wounded in a Russian strike on the city.
Boris Johnson has said the West must continue to support the Ukrainians as they seek to recover territory seized by Russia, saying it would be a “catastrophe” if President Vladimir Putin was able to claim victory.
Speaking on his return to the UK after an unannounced visit to Kyiv, the Prime Minister warned that Ukraine should not be encouraged to accept a “bad peace” which would simply be the prelude to a renewed Russian offensive.
Johnson also defended his decision to pull out of a conference of northern Tories on Friday so he could meet Ukrainian president Zelenskyy.
The timing of the visit led to accusations that he was snubbing the north ahead of a crucial by-election in Wakefield in West Yorkshire which the Tories are widely expected to lose.
Speaking to reporters at RAF Brize Norton upon his return, Johnson said it was important to demonstrate the UK’s support at a time when the Ukrainians were “suffering terribly” in the face of the ongoing Russian offensive in the Donbas.
“I think it is very important to go to Ukraine at a particularly critical time. The worry that we have is that a bit of Ukraine-fatigue is starting to set in around the world,” he said.
“It is very important to show that we are with them for the long haul and we are giving them that strategic resilience that they need.” Johnson said the Ukrainians should be supported in their ambition to regain territory occupied by the Russian forces since they invaded in February.
However, he stopped short of calling for the recovery of all the lands Ukraine had lost since 2014 – including Crimea – something Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has previously called for.
“It would a catastrophe if Putin won,” Johnson said.
“He’d love nothing more than to say: ‘Let’s freeze this conflict, let’s have a ceasefire like we had back in 2014’.”
He also spoke about the Eurovision song contest, saying he hopes Ukraine will be able to host it next year as the country’s people “deserve to have it”.
“The Ukrainians won the Eurovision Song Contest. I know we had a fantastic entry, I know we came second and I’d love it to be in this country,” he said.
“But the fact is that they won and they deserve to have it. I believe that they can have it and I believe that they should have it.
“I believe that Kyiv or any other safe Ukrainian city would be a fantastic place to have it.”
Meanwhile, a celebrated Ukrainian medic who smuggled out footage of the wounded in the besieged city of Mariupol has been freed by Russian forces.
Yuliia Paievska and a colleague were taken prisoner by Russian forces on March 16, the same day a Russian air strike hit a theatre in the city centre, killing around 600 people.
President Zelenskyy announced the release of Paievska – who is known as Taira in Ukraine – in a national address.
“I’m grateful to everyone who worked for this result. Taira is already home. We will keep working to free everyone,” he said.
Hundreds of prominent Ukrainians have been kidnapped or captured, including local officials, journalists, activists and human rights defenders.
Mourners gathered at a Kyiv monastery yesterday to pay tribute to Roman Ratushnyi, a well-known activist and soldier who died in battle in the east.
The 24-year-old had been a teenage protester during months of demonstrations that toppled Ukraine’s pro-Russian leader in 2014.
Poppies were lain on his coffin at a memorial service, before mourners walked in a silent column behind his coffin to a vast plaza in central Kyiv.
