President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday expressed his gratitude for the courage of some 400 residents of a village in northern Ukraine who were held in a school basement for 27 days.
The Ukrainian president traveled to the village of Yahidny, located in the Chernihiv region, and delivered an emotional speech about the villagers being held captive in an area of less than 200 square meters in the first month of the Russian offensive in February 2022.
Zelensky said 11 people died during the ordeal.
Signs of emotion were evident on Zelensky during the commemoration, and he said, “These lived and waited for Ukraine in the dark, in a way … They lived standing and sitting.”
On Zelensky’s visit to the village, he was accompanied by German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Bejenovic Burić.
Zelensky has visited the front lines several times in the past two weeks.
Zelensky thanked Habek and Boric for coming and said it was important for Ukraine’s allies to see such a cellar.
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