KYIV -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy marked the 800th day since Russia’s full-scale invasion, saying “all Ukrainians" and Ukraine’s allies must do everything possible to block the Kremlin’s plans, as authorities said Russian shelling killed at least three people in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
“Today is the 800th day of the war,” Zelenskiy said on May 3 in an address to Ukraine’s border guard personnel.
“This is an extremely difficult and tough path that our country had to go through, and the path that still needs to be passed to end the war on fair terms, on Ukraine's terms.
“Now we are facing a new stage of the war. The occupier is preparing to try to expand offensive operations," Zelenskiy said.
"Today, all Ukrainians, as well as Ukraine's allies, must do everything possible to thwart Russia's plans," he added.
The Ukrainian leader said that it was important to “prove that the enemy will not achieve its goals under any circumstances and no matter how despicable it acts.”
In Moscow, meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed the Kremlin was ready to consider "serious" proposals to settle the conflict based on existing "realities" and keeping in mind Russia’s security concerns, including a pledge by Kyiv to remain militarily neutral in the future.
The conditions appear to be identical to those repeatedly rejected by Kyiv in the past.
On the battlefield on May 3, authorities in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said three people were killed and five injured as a result of Russian shelling in the Pokrovsk and Bakhmut districts.
Authorities said a 12-year-old child was among those killed.
Authorities in Ukraine’s Kirovohrad region said housing an infrastructure sites were hit by a Russian missile strike on May 3, severely injuring one person.
Battlefield claims cannot immediately be verified because of the intense violence in the regions.
Russia has intensified missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure sites in recent months as Ukrainian leaders have pleaded with Western allies to speed up deliveries of air-defense systems and other weapons.
Russia denies that it targets civilian sites, despite widespread evidence of such attacks.
