Russia-Ukraine war live: Zelenskiy says he will keep up military pressure on Russian-occupied Crimea

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he will keep up military pressure on Russian-occupied Crimea

The Ukrainian president has vowed to maintain military pressure on Russian-occupied Crimea.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s comments came in a video address to a security conference in Prague on Tuesday that was marred by technical glitches and a possible hacking, Reuters reports.

Kyiv has ramped up strikes on Russian forces in the Black Sea and Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Moscow in 2014, as Ukrainian forces press on with a near five-month counteroffensive.

In remarks disrupted by technical faults, including one that intermittently modulated his voice to a higher pitch, Zelenskiy said the “illusion” of Russia’s domination of Crimea and the Black Sea had been shattered.

He said:

The Russian (Black Sea) fleet is no longer able to operate in the western part of the Black Sea and is gradually fleeing from Crimea. And this is a historic achievement.

Ukrainian attacks in and around Crimea have included strikes on a Russian airbase on the peninsula, a Black Sea fleet command post in Sevastopol, and the only bridge linking Crimea to Russia.

“We have not yet gained full fire control over Crimea and surrounding waters, but we will,” Zelenskiy told a meeting of the Crimea Platform, a diplomatic initiative he launched in 2021. “This is a question of time.”

A spokesperson for the Czech parliamentary speaker said the website for the event, which brought together lawmakers from various countries, “had come under a hacking attack” but did not specify by whom.