Zelenskiy says Ukraine was born again when Russia invaded

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Ukrainians on Wednesday in a emotional speech to mark 31 years of independence that Ukraine was reborn when Russia invaded on Feb. 24 and would recapture annexed Crimea and occupied areas in the east.

In the recorded speech, which falls on the six-month anniversary of Russia's Feb. 24 invasion, Zelenskiy said that Ukraine no longer saw the war ending when there was peace, but when Kyiv was actually victorious.