Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked Independence Day by declaring that Ukraine "will most definitely not lose" its fight against Moscow despite ongoing occupation in parts of the country. He emphasized national unity with statements that there is "one Ukraine" and that Ukrainians "shall be together again as one family." Zelenskyy rejected Russian proposals described as humiliation and called for a just peace that allows Ukrainians to decide their future. Fighting continued with reports of territorial gains and losses and a nuclear plant fire reportedly extinguished after air-defense actions. Diplomatic efforts, including a Trump–Putin summit, produced no breakthroughs or follow-up involving Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy celebrated Ukraine's Independence Day by saying that his country will "not lose" its fight against Moscow amid new battlefield advances and high-stakes diplomacy around ending the more than three-year war. "Ukraine hasn't won yet, but it will most definitely not lose," Zelenskyy said during a televised address to the country on August 24. The Ukrainian president added that despite parts of the country being currently occupied by Russian forces, there is "one Ukraine" and "we shall be together again as one family."
[Ukraine] will never again accept the humiliation of what the Russians say is a 'compromise,'" he said. "We need a just peace in which our future will be ours to decide." The speech from Zelenskyy comes as Kyiv is celebrating its 34th Independence Day since the country declared independence from the Soviet Union and finds itself navigating a new reality on and off the battlefield.
Russia said on August 23 that its forces in eastern Ukraine seized two villages in the Donetsk region as Ukraine's military said its forces had recaptured a settlement on the western edge of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Moscow also announced it had put out a fire at a nuclear plant in its western Kursk region after Russian air defenses claimed to have shot down a Ukrainian drone. There has also been intense diplomacy this month around ending the war, including a high-profile summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Despite both leaders claiming the meeting to be a success, it has not resulted in any breakthroughs or a follow-up summit involving Zelenskyy or other allied leaders.
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