President: Over 1,800 settlements have already been liberated from Russian invaders

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Ukraine has already managed to liberate more than 1,800 towns and villages from Russian invaders.

He said this in his annual address to the Verkhovna Rada, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We have already managed to liberate more than 1,800 Ukrainian towns and villages from the occupier. And I thank all the states that help us overcome Russian tyranny right on the battlefield," Zelensky said.

According to him, "today Ukrainian soldiers prove that greatness does not come from the size of the state, not from the stockpile of missiles, and not from the ability to force someone to do something. Greatness comes from the strength of spirit of those who protect their home, the will of their people."

"Ukrainian soldiers drove the invaders out of Kyiv. And this was the first turning point in the full-scale war, it showed the strength of our resistance," Zelensky said.

He recalled that Ukrainian soldiers liberated Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, and "since then every occupier knows what only answer he will hear from the Ukrainians to any of his encroachments."

"This showed that nothing will stop Ukraine. In the Black Sea, the number of [Russian] flagships has somewhat decreased, and one infamous bridge is increasingly operating for departure, rather than for entry, or if it is operating at all. And this showed what the future will be like - it will be Ukrainian," Zelensky said.

He also noted that the actions of the Ukrainian defense and security forces in the Kharkiv region have turned many pages of old history.

"Perhaps, the Russian army did not know that it was capable of fleeing so quickly, leaving all its positions, weapons, soldiers and collaborators. The occupiers fled, although they had an advantage in this area in terms of the number of weapons, equipment, and soldiers, but our soldiers had and still have another great advantage, a more significant advantage - determination, the advantage of the strength of their land under their feet," Zelensky said.

According to him, such an advantage of Ukrainian soldiers is strengthened by powerful weapons.

"For the first time, we have such weapons: HIMARS and Krab, Harpoon and NASAMS, Bayraktar, M777 howitzers and Bushmasters, IRIS-T, Crotale. And I named now only some of these dozen types of the best weapons in the world, which our soldiers already have or will have. I thank our partners!" Zelensky said.