Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has pledged that Russian forces will be defeated in Ukraine, just as Nazi Germany was beaten in World War II.

Speaking in front of a war memorial on Victory in Europe Day, Zelensky likened the “old evil” that Russia was bringing back to Nazism and vowed that it would be defeated. The President submitted a bill to parliament to commemorate World War II in Ukraine on May 8 and celebrate Europe Day on May 9, distancing the country further from Moscow.

ALSO READ: Russia accused of using phosphorus bombs in besieged city of Bakhmut in Ukraine war

Zelensky held the Kremlin responsible for “aggression and annexation, occupation and deportation, as well as mass murder and torture”. He said that all these acts would be answered by their victory, the victory of Ukraine, and the free world.

The address came just hours after Ukrainian forces claimed that they had downed 35 attack drones launched by Russia, which wounded five people in Kyiv.

Officials in the southern region of Odessa also reported an airstrike hitting a warehouse that left three people injured. The tension between Ukraine and Russia has been high since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and began supporting separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region.