Ukraine’s President Zelensky reveals Kyiv bunker in video address marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion
President Volodymyr Zelensky released a video address on Tuesday, February 24, marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Filmed inside the bunker in Kyiv where the Ukrainian president worked and lived during the first months of the war, the address reflected on how Ukraine’s resistance to Russian aggression has reshaped the country. Zelensky concluded his message by thanking the Ukrainian people and promising to secure a just peace. Meduza shares an abridged version of Zelensky’s speech, along with the full video.
Today marks exactly four years since Putin started his three-day push to take Kyiv. And that, in fact, says a great deal about our resistance, about how Ukraine has fought all this time. Behind those words stand millions of our people. Behind those words stand immense courage, incredibly hard work, endurance, and the long path Ukraine has been pursuing since February 24.
This office — this small room in the bunker on Bankova Street — is where I held my first conversations with world leaders at the start of the war. Here I spoke with President Biden, and it was right here that I heard: “Volodymyr, there is a threat. You need to leave Ukraine urgently. We are ready to help with that.” And here I replied that I need ammunition, not a ride.
And not because we are all fearless or made of steel — we are all human beings, and on that day, every one of us, all Ukrainians, felt fear and pain. Many were in shock, and many did not know what to say. But on some invisible level, all of us knew that we have no other Ukraine, that this is our home, and all of us understood what had to be done.
Such was the choice. The choice that millions of Ukrainians made back then. Our people did not raise a white flag — they defended the blue-and-yellow one. And the occupiers, who thought they would be met here with crowds waving flowers, saw lines at the recruitment centers instead. Our people chose resistance.
I worked here, then went upstairs to address you, the people. Here was our team, the government, daily coordination with the military, phone calls, the search for solutions — everything necessary for Ukraine to endure. Both formal and blunt language was used, because every aid package, every sanction against Russia, every shipment of weapons — all of these had to be truly fought for. We had to fight tooth and nail for the faith in Ukraine. We had to make sure the world got involved.
These calls worked because Ukrainians fought in a way that took your breath away, and this resistance was visible even from space. This was absolutely inspiring, so very soon everyone saw it — this blue-and-yellow sea: thousands of people with our flags in squares across Europe and the world.
And so — gradually, with difficulty, step by step, brick by brick — Ukraine built the support that allowed us to hold out: when we made it through the first day of the war, the longest day of our lives. Then another. And another. Then a week. Two weeks. And then — a month. And we saw spring. We won it back then — when it seemed that this February would never end, we gained our first spring amid a great war. It was a turning point, and for the first time, a thought flashed through everyone’s mind: we can do this. Ukraine can do this.
Ahead of us was a road. And even in this long tunnel, you couldn’t fit a millionth of the pain Ukraine has endured during this time. The pain Russia brought to each of our families, to every Ukrainian heart.
But all this time, we have not let our anger eat us from within. Ukrainians have turned their own rage into energy for the fight and have proven: we can be forced into shelters, but it is impossible to drive Ukraine underground forever. We inevitably rise, we return, we continue to fight — because we fight for life. For the right to stand on our land — and to breathe our own air.
Just realize this. Ukraine has come a long way, from the point when we were being given body armor to the point when we ourselves produce more than three million FPV drones a year. From the days when we admired Javelins and Bayraktars to the day when we have our own Sichen, Hor, Vampire, Palianytsia, Peklo, Ruta, and Flamingo. From asking to close the sky to the ability to shoot down hundreds of “Shaheds” in a single night. From hedgehogs and fortifications on the streets of Kyiv to the Kursk operation and the Spiderweb.
But that is still not enough. We will do more, because Russia does not stop, unfortunately, and wages war by every method — against peace, against us, against people.
Putin understands he is not capable of defeating Ukraine on the battlefield, and the “second army in the world” is fighting against apartment buildings and power plants. And now Ukrainians are enduring the hardest winter in history, and terror almost every night. I do not know who else could withstand this without collapsing or wavering. Ukrainians are doing it.
We remember how the first foreign leaders arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of this war. And the term “official visit” cannot in the slightest convey what these meetings were for us. I really want to come here with the President of the United States one day. I know for certain: only by coming to Ukraine, and seeing with one’s own eyes our life and our struggle, feeling our people and the enormity of this pain, only then can one understand what this war is really about, who the aggressor is, and who must be pressured. Putin is this war. He is the cause of its beginning and the obstacle to its end. And it is Russia that must be put in its place. So that there can be real peace.
They say time heals. I am not sure. At least I do not know how much time it will take to heal all our wounds — all these painful questions of “How many?” that burn inside. How many tears have been cried? How many attacks and vile strikes? How many scars in our hearts? How many flags in our cemeteries? How many names?
1,462 days of the full-scale war. 12 years since the beginning of Russia’s aggression. For some, an entire lifetime. Of course, we all want the war to end. But no one will allow Ukraine to end. We want peace. Strong, dignified, lasting. And before each round of negotiations, I give our team very clear directives. They always come in classified decrees, but I will certainly not reveal a state secret if I share my main message: not to nullify all these years, not to devalue the entire struggle, the courage, the dignity, everything Ukraine has gone through. This cannot be surrendered, forgotten, or betrayed. That is why there are so many rounds of negotiations, and a battle for every word, for every point, for real security guarantees, so that the agreement is strong. History is watching us closely. The agreement must not simply be signed — it must be accepted, accepted by Ukrainians.
Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: we have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood. Ukraine exists not just on the map. Putin has not achieved his goals. He has not broken Ukrainians. He has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to secure peace and justice.
Less than a week until spring. We are getting through the hardest winter in history. This is a fact. And it is very difficult. Difficult for all of us. But just as on the first day of the war, we continue to build our tomorrow — step by step, task by task, achievement by achievement, and every result, every success, every “Ukraine did it” is the merit of all of you. The Ukrainian people. Glory to Ukraine!
