Zelensky on eight months of war: Ukraine breaking so-called “world’s second-strongest army”

That’s according to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who spoke in his address to the nation Monday evening, according to Ukrinform.

He noted that today, October 24, marks exactly eight months of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine

"What has been achieved throughout this time? We’ve defended the independence of our state – and Russia cannot change that. Step by step, we are liberating Ukrainian land. Now Donbas, Kharkiv region, and Kherson region are in the news. But Zaporizhia region and Crimea will also be there: time will come – and all of Ukraine will be free," Zelensky said.

The president added that Ukraine is breaking the so-called world’s second-strongest army, and from now on Russia will only be a beggar.

"They’re begging for something in Iran, trying to squeeze something out of Western nations – inventing various nonsense about Ukraine. Russian potential is being wasted on a war against our country and the entire free world. There used to be gas influence – it’s no longer there. There used to be military influence – it’s evaporating. There used to be political weight - now it’s isolation. There used to be ideological ambitions – now it's just disgust," Zelensky said.

He added that this is a very important change in the configuration in this part of Eurasia: the more of its potential Russia loses now, the more real freedom will be gained by all peoples both around Russia and within its borders. Ukraine will be the first.

"The realization of failure is getting stronger in Russia, but keeping this in mind, we have no right to relax. We still have to walk the path to Ukrainian victory. It is a difficult path to go through this winter, which will be the most difficult one in our history, to do the necessary part of the work in the fall, winter, and spring, in order to get the results the state needs, to maintain maximum mobilization of our partners for the sake of the fight for freedom, and not allow our common enemy to split the global pro-democracy coalition – this is what we are all doing – Ukrainians, Europeans, people of the whole world who value freedom," said Zelensky.

As reported, on February 24, Russia began a new stage of its war on Ukraine that had been launched in 2014, a full-scale invasion.