Ukraine was “reborn” when Russia invaded six months ago, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Wednesday, marking 31 years of his country’s independence from the erstwhile Soviet Union.

The anniversary fell exactly six months after Russia sent dozens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. In a speech to his colleagues, Zelenskiy said the attack had revived Ukraine’s spirit.

“A new nation appeared in the world on Feb. 24 at 4 in the morning. It was not born, but reborn. A nation that did not cry, scream or take fright. One that did not flee. Did not give up. And did not forget,” he said.

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The 44-year-old leader, speaking in front of Kyiv’s central monument to independence in his trademark combat fatigues, vowed to recapture occupied areas of eastern Ukraine as well as the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, Reuters reported.

“What for us is the end of the war? We used to say: peace. Now we say: victory,” he said.

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Russia’s war effort in Ukraine has made little progress in recent months, after its troops were pushed back from Kyiv in the early weeks of the war. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told a meeting of defence ministers in Uzbekistan that Russia had deliberately slowed down what it refers to as its “special military operation” in Ukraine to avoid civilian casualties, the report added.  

Zelenskiy told representatives of about 60 countries as well as international organisations attending a virtual summit on Crimea on Tuesday that Ukraine would drive out Russian forces by any means necessary, without consulting other countries.

The war has killed thousands of civilians, forced more than a third of Ukraine’s 41 million people from their homes, left cities in ruins, and dented the global economy. The dangerous stalemate continues with no immediate prospect of peace talks.

Nearly 9,000 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed in the war, its military said this week. Pope Francis called for “concrete steps” to end the conflict and avert nuclear disaster.