Zelenskyy says Putin has ‘not broken’ Ukrainians as he marks 4 years since Russia’s all-out invasion

A woman place flowers at the memorial to the fallen Ukrainian soldiers on Independence Square to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared Tuesday that Russia has not “broken Ukrainians” nor triumphed in its war, four years after an invasion that has severely tested the resolve of Kyiv and its allies and fueled European fears about the scale of Moscow’s ambitions.

In a show of support, more than a dozen senior European officials headed to the Ukrainian capital to mark the grim anniversary of the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, upended life for millions of Ukrainians, and created instability far beyond its borders.

Zelenskyy said his country has withstood the onslaught by Russia’s bigger and better equipped army, which over the past year of fighting captured just 0.79 per cent of Ukraine’s territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. Russia now holds nearly 20 per cent of Ukraine.

Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: We have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “not achieved his goals.”

“He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war,” Zelenskyy said.

Despite the show of defiance, Ukraine has struggled to hold off Russia’s onslaught, and the war has brought widespread hardship for Ukrainian civilians. Russia’s aerial attacks have devastated families and denied civilians power and running water.

Putin made no mention of the anniversary nor did he say how the war was going when he spoke at a meeting in Moscow of top officials of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, on Tuesday.

However, he told them that the threat of Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil has grown. Ukraine has increasingly deployed long-range drones that it has developed to strike oil refineries, fuel depots and military logistics hubs more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) inside Russia.

UN calls for an immediate ceasefire

As the war of attrition enters its fifth year, a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the largest conflict on the continent since World War II appears no closer to a peace deal.

Negotiations are stuck on what happens to the Donbas, eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland that Russian forces mostly occupy but have failed to seize completely, and the terms of a postwar security arrangement that Kyiv is demanding to deter any future Russian invasion.

The UN General Assembly called Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire and a comprehensive peace in Ukraine, rejecting a U.S. attempt to eliminate language stressing the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Washington supports an immediate ceasefire, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Tammy Bruce said before the vote, but opposed language stressing Ukraine’s territorial unity because it would “distract” from the peace talks.

The 193-member General Assembly approved the original wording 107-12, with the United States among the 51 countries abstaining.

Zelenskyy urges Trump to visit

At a makeshift memorial in Kyiv’s central square, where thousands of small flags and portraits show photos of fallen soldiers, Zelenskyy said he would like U.S. President Donald Trump to visit and witness for himself Ukrainian suffering.

“Only then can one truly understand what this war is really about,” Zelenskyy said. When later asked how four years of war had changed him, Zelenskyy said, “I don’t have time for friends or friendships.”

Trump, who once vowed to end the war in a day, has repeatedly changed his tone toward Putin and Zelenskyy over the past year: sometimes criticizing the Ukrainian leader’s negotiating position while reaching out to the Russian leader and at others lashing out at Putin for heavy barrages and appearing more sympathetic to the Ukrainian predicament.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the invasion would continue in pursuit of Moscow’s goals. They include a demand that Ukraine renounce its bid to join NATO, sharply cut its army, and cede vast swaths of territory.

Zelenskyy said he expected a fresh round of U.S.-brokered talks with Russia within the next 10 days.

A `nightmare’ for Ukrainians

The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides could reach two million by spring, with Russia sustaining the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II, a report last month from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated.

European leaders see their countries’ own security at stake in Ukraine amid concerns that Putin may target them next.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X that “for four years, every day and every night has been a nightmare for the Ukrainians -- and not just for them, but for us all. Because war is back in Europe.”

“We will only end it by being strong together, because the fate of Ukraine is our fate,” he added.

Putin’s dangerous gamble

Putin believes that time is on the side of his bigger army, Western officials and analysts say -- and that Western support will trail off and that Ukraine’s military resistance will eventually crumble. Already Trump has ended new military aid to Ukraine -- though other NATO countries now buy American weapons and give them to Kyiv.

But French President Emmanuel Macron described the war as “a triple failure for Russia: military, economic, and strategic.” The war “has strengthened NATO -- the very expansion Russia sought to prevent -- galvanized Europeans it hoped to weaken, and laid bare the fragility of an imperialism from another age,” Macron said on X.

The European Union has also sent financial aid, but has sometimes met with reluctance from members Hungary and Slovakia.

While NATO countries have come to Ukraine’s aid, Russia has been helped by North Korea, which has sent thousands of troops and artillery shells; Iran, which has provided drone technology; and China, which the United States and analysts say has provided machine tools and chips.

A defining conflict

Among the European officials visiting Kyiv on Tuesday were President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, as well as seven prime ministers and four foreign ministers.

Zelenskyy later said von der Leyen assured him that Ukraine would receive the first tranche of a 90 billion Euro loan by the spring despite Hungary’s attempts to block it.

The only American listed among the official guests in Kyiv ceremonies was Lt. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, a U.S. officer who represents NATO in Ukraine.

British Armed Forces Minister Al Carns said Russia’s war on Ukraine was “the most defining conflict” in decades, bringing a “revolution in military affairs,” especially through the rapid development of drone technology. Drones now cause the vast majority of battlefield casualties, he said.

Both sides face challenges in finding enough troops and are increasingly turning to uncrewed aerial drones that can attack far from the front lines, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said in its annual report on the global military situation.

“Given both sides’ reliance on external support for materiel, decisions taken in foreign capitals will play an important role in shaping the war’s trajectory,” the think tank added.

The United Kingdom on Tuesday announced a new package of military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, including sending teams of British military medics to instruct their Ukrainian counterparts.

The cost of rebuilding war-battered Ukraine would amount to almost US$588 billion over the next decade, according to World Bank, the European Commission, the United Nations and the Ukrainian government. That is nearly three times the estimated nominal GDP of Ukraine for last year, they said in a report Monday.

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Associated Press reporters across Europe contributed to this story.

Illia Novikov, The Associated Press