As dawn broke on a day of commemorations and defiance, President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted that Ukrainians had proven themselves to be “invincible” in what he called “a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity”.
We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
“We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory!” the tweet said.
In a defiant video address, Mr Zelensky recalled the terror unleashed a year ago by the Russian assault, triggering Europe’s biggest and deadliest war since the Second World War.
He said February 24, 2022, the date of the Russian invasion, was “the longest day of our lives”.
“We survived the first day of the full-scale war. We didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but we clearly understood that for each tomorrow, you need to fight. And we fought,” he said.
Ukrainians planned memorials, candle vigils and other remembrances for their tens of thousands of dead — a toll growing all the time as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine in particular.
There were concerns that Russia might unleash another barrage of missiles against Ukraine to pile yet more sadness on the day.
Mercifully, air raid alarms did not sound overnight in the capital, Kyiv, and dawn broke quietly.
Still, the government recommended that schools move classes online and office employees were asked to work from home.
Tributes to Ukraine’s resilience flowed from overseas. The Eiffel Tower in Paris was among monuments illuminated in Ukraine’s colours — yellow and blue.
Tourists pose with balloons as the Eiffel Tower in Paris is illuminated with the colours of Ukraine to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of the country (Christophe Ena/AP/PA) — © Christophe Ena
Mr Zelensky said the February 24, 2022, Russian assault had been a moment when “millions of us made a choice”.
Ukrainians chose not the white flag of surrender “but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting and fighting,” his tweet said.
A year on, casualty figures are horrific on both sides, with Western estimates suggesting hundreds of thousands have been killed or wounded.
Economic and diplomatic repercussions have rippled across the globe.
Western nations are supporting Ukraine militarily, financially and politically. But China, India and countries in the global south have proven ambivalent about Western arguments that Ukraine is the front line of a fight for freedom and democracy.