February 24, 2024 - Russia-Ukraine news

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine counts on G7 countries' continued support during a speech on the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky thanked G7 countries for their leadership via video conference on Saturday, saying:

Zelensky spoke alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Zelensky also said victory over Russia would mean the entire global community of nations and international law would prevail. "Please remember that imperial ambitions and revanchism can be defeated only together with those infected by them and this is what opens the space for true security and the development of democracy," he said.

G7 statement: The leaders of the G7 said they remained committed to supporting Ukraine for “as long as it takes” following the call. The statement, released by the White House, comes as continued funding from the US remains in question.

The leaders also called out Russian President Vladimir Putin for “forcing his own people to pay a heavy price for his government’s reckless actions.” 

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg contributed reporting to this post.

The book “Ukraine: A War Crime,” published by FotoEvidence, features powerful images from more than 90 photojournalists.

Telling Ukrainians’ stories, providing a visual record of the horrors they face every day, has become an important part of the war effort and shaped public perceptions around the world. Many of these photojournalists — some Ukrainian, some foreign — were among the first to enter liberated cities and collect evidence of atrocities that had taken place.

Below is a selection of some of their work.

Hear from the photographers and see more photos from two years of war.

Ukrainian officials said Saturday they had received reassurances from European leaders that new aid would be forthcoming, amid concerns in Ukraine about wavering Western support.

In a statement on X, Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had had a call Saturday with European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell and received assurances that European states would step up deliveries of critically needed artillery ammunition. 

The EU has fallen short on previous commitments to boost ammunition production to supply Ukrainian forces, who have been significantly outgunned by Russian artillery. 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also said in a statement he had met with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, during her visit to Kyiv.

The European Union recently agreed a funding deal worth more than $50 billion for Ukraine after funds had been blocked by Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. 

Smyhal said von der Leyen informed him that a first tranche of EUR 4.5 billion ($4.9 billion) from that package would be disbursed in March.

The Ukrainian prime minister said the two also discussed the situation on the Ukrainian-Polish border, where Polish farmers have blockaded the border to protest cheap Ukrainian agricultural imports. 

On the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Saturday, a group of women held a rally on Kyiv’s Sofiivska square to draw attention to call for the release of Ukrainian POWs – in particular, the soldiers who held out in Mariupol’s Azovstal factory under relentless Russian bombardment until their surrender in May 2022. 

CNN spoke with some of them.

Kira, 30, originally from Kherson

Yana, 28, from Kyiv

Vladyslava, 35, from Kremenchuk, Poltava region

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has marked the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion by saying his country "will succeed."

Foreign leaders have been arriving in Ukraine to show solidarity on the anniversary. As the war enters its third year, the future of the conflict remains uncertain.

Below are the latest developments:

The Ukrainian presidential office released video on Saturday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau laying flowers at the Wall of Memory at St. Michael’s Square in Kyiv, to mark the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Western leaders also met Zelensky at the Hostomel airport, which had been seized by Russian helicopter-borne troops in the early hours of the invasion and the scene of fierce fighting. Russian troops abandoned the airport during their withdrawal from around Kyiv.

The Western show of solidarity with Kyiv comes amid concerns about waning support for Ukraine and the stalling in the US Congress of an aid package for Ukraine. 

Russian forces struck targets across Ukraine overnight using missiles and drones, the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Saturday.

During the salvo, Ukrainian forces shot down two X-59 guided missiles and 12 drones flying over the Kirovohrad, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.

One person was killed after a residential building was struck in Odesa, Ukrainian national police said. Three people were taken to the hospital, while one was rescued from the rubble.

In a separate statement, Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, expressed gratitude to troops for their "excellent combat work” during the attacks.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the battlefield situation in Ukraine “remains extremely serious,” but underscored the commitment of allies to continue delivery of weapons and economic support for Kyiv in comments marking two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

A counteroffensive last summer by Ukrainian forces stalled and Russian forces this month captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka and have gone on the attack at several points along the front lines.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba recently told CNN that Avdiivka would not have been fallen if Ukraine “had received all the artillery ammunition that we needed to defend it,” particularly amid a hold-up of critical aid to Ukraine in the US Congress.

Stoltenberg said Putin had miscalculated in his aim to keep Ukraine out of NATO, saying the Kremlin leader “has achieved the exact opposite: Ukraine is now closer to NATO than ever before ... Ukraine will join NATO. It is not a question of IF, but of WHEN.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine will succeed and urged his countrymen to remain hopeful of victory during in a speech marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The Ukrainian president went on to encourage his fellow countrymen by reminding them of what has been achieved over the past two years. 

Zelensky praised his nation for surviving the beginning of the war and even thriving against all odds. 

“A nation that survived the first three days. And did not fall on the fourth. And won on the fifth day. And then a month. And then - six months. And now - two years,” Zelensky said.