Updated Mar 13, 2022 - World

Zelensky visits wounded soldiers at hospital

Zelensky.

Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers in a hospital Sunday.

What they're saying: Zelensky awarded the "defenders of Ukraine" with medals for their courage and wished them a speedy recovery, per the country's government. The soldiers had been fighting in the Kyiv region before they were wounded.

The big picture: Zelensky's visit came on the 18th day of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

  • Ukrainian officials earlier Sunday announced that a barrage of Russian airstrikes on a military facility in western Ukraine had killed at least 35 people and injured 134. It was the westernmost point of attack in the war thus far.
  • Russian forces have also continued their siege on the port city of Mariupol and have come within roughly 15 miles of the capital, Kyiv.

What they're saying: "The Russian invaders cannot conquer us. They do not have such strength. They do not have such spirit," Zelensky said in a late-night video address on Saturday.

  • By invading Ukraine, Russia has turned itself into a "large area isolated from the rest of the world. Where poverty will reign. Where everything will be determined only by violence."
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