‘Proud of Its Ability to Kill’ – Zelensky Mourns First Responders, Says Russia Will Reject Any Peace Proposal

There is no peace initiative in the world that Russia has not rejected, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, and went on to offer his condolences for a Ukrainian rescue worker who found her family in the rubble of a Russian strike, and another police office killed in a different strike.

“Russia is proud of this,” he said. “It is proud of its ability to kill. And honestly, that’s about the only thing this state has truly mastered. Today’s strike on Pryluky in the Chernihiv region: Russian drones killed the family of a Ukrainian rescuer.”

When the chief of the local fire department in Pryluky was called to the scene, he and his brigade found five people were killed and nine injured after a drone hit a residential building. The dead included the firefighter’s wife, his daughter and his baby grandson.

His daughter, Daryna Shyhyd, was a local police officer. Her son was only one year old.

“Three generations… there are no words that can ease this pain,” the Ukrainian National Police said in a statement on Thursday announcing the death of Shyhyda. “She was strong, bright and sincere. She was loyal to her oath, fair and had a deep sense of duty – this is how her colleagues and everyone who knew her will remember her,” the police statement read.

In his address, Zelensky went on to describe the other attacks on Thursday.

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Former Polish Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Piekło characterized President Volodymyr Zelensky’s open letter to Vladimir Putin as a tactical psychological strike that effectively challenged the foundations of the Kremlin’s power. The letter’s release was strategically timed to coincide with the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an event overshadowed by Ukrainian drone operations striking targets over 1,000 kilometers from the border.

“There were strikes on Kharkiv, Sumy region, Donetsk region, Nikopol, communities in the Zaporizhzhia region, and villages in the Kherson region,” he said.  “This has become the grim daily reality of what Russians, unfortunately, are allowed to do. And the world, unfortunately, continues to allow it.”

He insisted said that no peace initiative had been acceptable to Russia.

“They reject everything. The only things they find acceptable are ruins and death. They must be held accountable for this,” he added.

Zelensky said that Russia launched 103 drones and one ballistic missile against the country overnight, targeting multiple regions. At least eight people were killed in the attacks.

“This is yet another massive strike by terrorists – Russian terrorists who kill our people every night,” the president said.