00:00An Independence Day message from Ukrainians for Volodymyr Zelensky.
00:05Our sons, husbands and fathers have fought Russia long enough.
00:10Mr. President, they say we are begging you, bring our people home.
00:16I'm waiting for my beloved man who's been missing for a year and two months in the Donetsk region.
00:21I just live in hope that he will return home and that's it.
00:25I told him I will wait for him, whatever it takes.
00:27Let them take the territory, just return the men home.
00:33In a speech to rally the country and remind the world of what it has endured,
00:38Zelensky said Ukraine now has the strongest army in Europe.
00:42And no matter what happens next, it has already shown Russia is not invincible.
00:50Every day we're returning more and more of this war to where it came from,
00:54into Russian skies and Russian land.
00:56And with every step of this war there, with pressure on Russia, with their real losses,
01:00we know that peace for Ukraine is getting closer.
01:05The President also thanked the Ukrainian people and international partners.
01:11In recent days, allies have pledged billions more dollars in military support.
01:16Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. Special Envoy Keith Kellogg
01:20attending the official ceremonies in Kyiv.
01:26But as the war drags into its fourth year and the front lines shift slowly in Russia's favor,
01:32a different battle is being fought at home.
01:34One against exhaustion, loss and longing.
01:38A war that has been measured in days, in how much ground has been gained or lost.
01:44On this Independence Day, Ukrainian families are measuring in how many people went to fight
01:49and never came home.
01:53Ukrainians want the war to end.
01:55But the question of compromising territory for peace divides opinions here.
01:59If Donetsk is already occupied, so be it.
02:04But let Sumi and Kurson remain ours.
02:06Let them give no more.
02:08Let them not advance any further.
02:09We are the families.
02:10We are waiting.
02:11And look at how many of us there are.
02:13We want peace.
02:14So that children can see their fathers alive, not just in photos.
02:18And what then did our husbands die for, or go missing for, so that we would give up territories?
02:26The longer the war continues, the bigger the number of killed, captured or missing.
02:32The blurrier the path to victory.
02:35And with each passing day, fewer loved ones may be left to celebrate when it finally ends.
02:42Zain Basravi, Al Jazeera, Kyiv.
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