Ukrainian president visits Sumy region, addresses soldiers in Okhtyrka, Trostyanets

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday visited the cities of Okhtyrka and Trostyanets in the Sumy region in the country’s northeast, where he addressed soldiers on the occasion of their defense and liberation, respectively.

Zelenskyy first visited Okhtyrka, where he noted that the city experienced heavy losses and strikes from Russian fighter jets and multiple launch rocket systems.

“In the Sumy region, in our Okhtyrka, we honor the true Cossack courage and indomitability of our people, our heroes, all Ukrainian men and women. Those who fought here for their city, for their land, and thus for our entire state. Those who destroyed the Russian convoys here and thus disrupted the entire plan of the enemy against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy said.

During his speech, he underlined the heroics of locals and voiced his honor in giving Okhtyrka the honorary title of "Hero City."

Okhtyrka is one of 10 cities that were given the honorary title of Hero City of Ukraine in March 2022 for their resistance since the start of Russia’s “special military operation” in the country.

Zelenskyy further said Ukraine will never forgive the “crimes” committed by Russia on Ukrainian soil.

"Justice is the most important thing for us today, so we will not forgive what was done against Ukrainians, against Ukraine. We will bring to justice all murderers from the Russian Federation. ... And we will not leave a single wound inflicted by this war on the body of our state,” he noted.

Zelenskyy also said they will rebuild “absolutely everything that was destroyed” and do everything to revive all cities and villages in the region.

He later traveled to Trostyanets, where he said the events that transpired in the region are not only reflective of the “pages of the heroic history of communities, but above all about the character of Ukrainians who will win this war.”

"Ukrainian character is the character of people who do not accept aggression, who do not give up what’s theirs. This is the character of freedom, which is felt from birth and is not forgotten until the last breath, until the end of life. This is the character of courage that allows you to kill even the enemy that the whole world was afraid of,” he said.

He further noted that they continue fighting “for freedom, for the liberation of such cities as Trostyanets, cities of Sumy region, Kyiv region, and Chernihiv region.”

"Our people proved that the occupier will be defeated by us, by our morale, by our Ukrainian character. This was proved by our people, our warriors, by those who helped our Armed Forces, our army to direct fire, helped our intelligence to protect our state," he added.

“Volodymyr Zelenskyy also got himself acquainted with the reconstruction projects of the Trostyanets railway station and the station square,” a statement by the Ukrainian presidency read.