Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers in a hospital Sunday.
What they're saying: Zelensky awarded the "defenders of Ukraine" with medals for their courage and wished them a speedy recovery, per the country's government. The soldiers had been fighting in the Kyiv region before they were wounded.
- "I believe that the best gift for your statement will be our common victory," Zelensky said, per Ukraine's Defense Ministry.
Президент України Володимир Зеленський відвідав у госпіталі поранених захисників України 🇺🇦
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 13, 2022
🔊 «Хлопці, швидше одужуйте. Вірю: найкращим подарунком до вашої виписки буде наша спільна перемога!» - зазначив @ZelenskyyUa pic.twitter.com/lHYZJHWvp8
The big picture: Zelensky's visit came on the eighteenth day of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
- Ukrainian officials earlier on Sunday announced that a barrage of Russian airstrikes on a military facility in western Ukraine had killed at least 35 people and injured 134. It was the westernmost point of attack in the war thus far.
- Russian forces have also continued their siege on the port city of Mariupol and have come within roughly 15 miles of the capital, Kyiv.
What they're saying: "The Russian invaders cannot conquer us. They do not have such strength. They do not have such spirit," Zelensky said in a late-night video address on Saturday....
- By invading Ukraine, Russia has turned itself into a "large area isolated from the rest of the world. Where poverty will reign. Where everything will be determined only by violence."