Zelensky says Ukraine unbroken after 4 years, but Russia vows to fight on

A local resident reacts as he visits a makeshift memorial for Ukrainian and foreign soldiers in Independence Square in Kyiv on February 24, 2026, on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) Vladimir Putin has not broken Ukraine, its leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday, as the Kremlin marked the fourth year of its invasion by vowing that it will keep fighting Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II until it achieves its goals. Moscow had hoped to take Kyiv in days when it launched its invasion on February 24, 2022.

Four years later — with hundreds of thousands dead, millions forced to flee, much of eastern Ukraine destroyed and US-led peace talks still deadlocked over territory — it conceded that it has not achieved all it wants in the country. “The goals haven’t been fully achieved yet, which is why the military operation continues,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to an AFP question. Ukraine, meanwhile, was ready to do “everything” it could to secure peace, Zelensky said in a video address that featured images of Ukrainians carrying out acts of resistance against Russian soldiers in the opening days of the conflict.

But any settlement must not “betray” the price paid by Ukrainians throughout the conflict, he said. “Putin has not achieved his goals. He did not break the Ukrainians.

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He did not win this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to achieve peace — and to ensure there is justice,” Zelensky said. “We want peace.

Strong, dignified, and lasting peace,” he said, adding that any agreement “must not simply be signed, it must be accepted by Ukrainians”. “Everything Ukraine has gone through. It must not be surrendered, forgotten, or betrayed,” he added. In a later video address to the European Parliament, Zelensky urged Brussels to set out a clear timeline for his country’s accession to the bloc.

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