Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked all soldiers and all of Ukraine for 500 days of fighting against Russian aggression with a message from Snake Island, one of the most important strategic places in the area of Black Sea, occupied by the Russians in February last year and liberated on June 30, a liberation that was preceded by the sinking in April of the Russian flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, equipped with guided missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defense described at the time the Russian withdrawal as a “gesture of goodwill”. “Although it is a small piece of land in the middle of our Black Sea, it is a great proof that Ukraine will take back every part of its territory,” Zelensky said on the island. The head of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksi Danilov, said yesterday that Ukraine is “500 days closer to victory”.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy passed through Snake Island yesterday after visiting Istanbul, from which he was returning with five commanders of the Azov regiment who were in Turkey since September 2022 under the protection of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who mediated because to be released in a prisoner exchange with Russia. But the most important thing for the Ukrainian president was Erdogan’s statement that “Ukraine deserves to be a member of NATO”.
Previous to his passage through Istanbul was Zelenski’s visit to Sofia, where the meeting with the Bulgarian president, Rumen Radev, was tense in the presence of the press, due to the reluctance of his Government, so far, to support in Ukraine openly. Zelenski, however, came out victorious, with an agreement for the supply of ammunition.
The government of former pro-European Prime Minister Kiril Petrov had secretly supplied 30% of the Soviet ammunition and 40% of the fuel used by Kyiv in the first three months of the war. Earlier, in late March, former Bulgarian Defense Minister Boyko Noev claimed that the government in Sofia planned to sell Ukraine through intermediaries hundreds of thousands of Soviet-made ammunition units that the Ukrainian military continues to use for much of its armament.
For its part, the Czech Government announced on Friday that it will give Ukraine more attack helicopters and artillery ammunition, and that it will contribute to training Ukrainian pilots in the control of F-16 fighter-bombers.
