Referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin as “the sick old man from Red Square,” Zelenskyy said that Kyiv's surprise incursion into Russian territory was the response of “independence.”

He said: “Today we celebrate the 33rd Independence Day of Ukraine. And what the enemy brought to our land has now returned to his home.

“Whoever wanted to turn our land into a buffer zone should think about whether his country will not become a buffer federation. This is what independence responds to.”

The anniversary marking Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union comes as Kyiv strikes back at Russia’s two-and-a-half-year invasion with Ukrainian forces taking control of over 1,260 square kilometers in Russia’s bordering region of Kursk.

Zelenskyy continued: “The sick old man from Red Square, constantly scaring everyone with the red button, will not dictate his ‘red lines’ to us.

“Ukraine and Ukrainians will decide for themselves how to live, what path to follow and what choices to make.

“Our enemy will know what Ukrainian-style retaliation is. A dignified, symmetrical, long-range retaliation.

“He will know that any place in the Russian Federation that is a source of threat to the life of our state and our people will sooner or later receive a Ukrainian response.”

He added that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was taking steps towards gaining independence, saying: “There is economic and energy independence, but (there is also) the spiritual independence of the Ukrainian people.

“Today, Ukrainian Orthodoxy is taking a step towards liberation from the Moscow devils.”

Zelenskyy went on to thank U.S. President Joe Biden “on behalf of the Ukrainian people” for America’s support which “helps us survive and preserve our statehood.”

Expressing Poland’s solidarity with Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda attended the Independance Day celebrations in the capital to lay flowers at the Wall of Remembrance for the Fallen for Ukraine.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also lent the EU’s support, posting on X that: “Europe will always be at Ukraine's side, because Ukraine is Europe. Your freedom is our freedom. Your security is our security.”

She added that the EU had stood by Ukraine from the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion and would continue to stand by it “as long as needed.”