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According to reports, Ukrainian forces shot down two Russian military planes in the Zaporizhia region. The information came from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself, who in his usual nightly communication with the country took stock of the operations on the ground and Ukrainian activities in the context of the conflict with Russia.
According to Zelenskyy, the operation in the region where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located was carried out by the 15th Operational Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard and the military aircraft in question were of the “SU type” the acronym for Sukhoi, the main military aircraft manufacturer of the Kremlin.
“Thanks to two of our particularly poignant heroes”mocked the Ukrainian leader, adding that “one of them had already received the Hero of Ukraine medal and shot down not only an enemy plane, but also a cruise missile”.
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At the same time, the Ukrainian President also spoke about the prisoner exchange, in which 106 Ukrainian soldiers returned home this Thursday. According to the President of Ukraine, this group of prisoners of war includes eight highranking military officers and 98 soldiers and noncommissioned officers. “They fought in the Bakhmut sector,” he revealed.
Zelenskyy did not provide details on the Russians released to complete the exchange stressed that prisoners of war are an important asset in the negotiations with Moscow. “Everyone on the front line needs to remember that the more Russian POWs we take, the more of our people we can bring back,” he explained.
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In his video statement, the President of Ukraine still had time to recall the surprise speech he gave to graduate students at Johns Hopkins University in the United States this Thursday afternoon. “This is one of the best educational institutions in America,” he said of the institution. that has trained dozens of Nobel Prize winnersas well as several renowned rulers and figures in the fields of journalism, science and the arts. “Your graduates are influential figures, and some have already had a significant impact on politics.”
In a video broadcast from Kyiv, Zelenskyy urged young college graduates to take the time and resources to pursue their passions and defend the democratic values at stake in the war against Russia.
The President of Ukraine also urged the Hopkins graduates to make the most of every moment, recalling that the ongoing conflict has impacted the futures of countless young Ukrainians, robbing them of opportunities and loved ones.
“Time is the most valuable resource on the planet”he said, explaining that some people realize it earlier and are “the lucky ones,” while others “realize too late when they lose someone or something.”
The Ukrainian counteroffensive “has already begun,” says Zelenskyy’s adviser