1877 Ukrainian settlements are temporarily occupied by Russia

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated this in his address to the participants of the Federal President of Germany event dedicated to solidarity with Ukraine.

"We are fighting on Ukrainian soil for what all of you, friends, cannot imagine your lives without. This is basic security. This is freedom and life under the law. This is human dignity and the right of every person and every community to be respected. This is the happiness of living in a family and the opportunity to dream of a safe and free future for your children. These are simple things that 1877 Ukrainian cities and villages are now deprived of," Zelenskyy said.

The President said that the temporarily occupied Mariupol was destroyed by almost 90%, and Russians want to recycle the destroyed houses into concrete chips for road construction.

"We must do everything possible and impossible to prevent Russia from turning Ukraine, our neighbours and the whole of Europe, which Russian revanchism wants to reach, into concrete crumbs," Zelenskyy emphasised.

The President of Ukraine says that now is the time when courage and weapons can restore peace and create a historically significant fuse for any aggression: no one will dare to aggress against another nation when they know the free world will protect this nation.