An Open Letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Vladimir Putin. (Original).

An Open Letter from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Vladimir Putin. (Original).

Part 1/3.

“When you came to lead Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine viewed you positively. That was the case. It is now in the past.

Now the absolute majority of Ukrainians view positively the fact that our long-range drones visited the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, having covered a distance of more than 1,000 km. As you know very well, that distance is not the limit of our capabilities.

Your 26 years in power have completely changed the agenda in relations between Ukraine and Russia. From discussions of trade turnover and other civilian issues, our peoples have moved to the subject of nothing but strikes and losses.

Nearly half of your 26 years in power in Russia, you have spent in war against Ukraine. Whatever you may say about NATO, geopolitics, and the Russian language, this war is your personal choice, a war with no real reason. That is exactly how history will remember it.

This time could have passed in a completely different way.

We often hear that war suits you. Of course, not in cases when it concerns the security of your residence in Valdai or the parade in Moscow. Your own life is valuable to you.

But now we all see that the Russians are finally no longer satisfied with it either, with the fact that the war is bringing more and more negativity to Russia.

They do not like our drones and missiles.

They do not like the gasoline shortage and the constant rise in prices.

They do not like the constant bans.

They do not like your intention to launch a second wave of mobilization in order to expand the war into another direction in Ukraine or direct it against some other countries, Russia’s neighbors.

They do not like that there is no end in sight to your war.

Yes, you can still force Russians to live like this.

But your resources are shrinking substantially.

You will not have enough money or political strength to keep buying Russians’ loyalty the way you did for 26 years. We will do everything to make sure the world takes care of that.

As you yourself say, ‘everything needs to be counted.’

Yesterday I received a report on your army’s losses at the front in May. Once again, it is more than 30,000 Russians killed and seriously wounded. We are maintaining exactly that figure every month, and for every one of your losses we have video confirmation, this is not baseless.

We know that among your losses at the front, 63% are killed and only 37% are wounded. In the 21st century, armies cannot afford such a ratio. Going forward, the share of those killed will rise.

It is not that we in Ukraine are worried about Russians. After everything your war has brought to Ukraine.

But I care about Ukrainians.

We are losing our people, and every one of our losses hurts us. And even if the level of Ukrainian losses is 1 to 5-6 compared to Russian ones, it still matters greatly.

What also matters is that you are already regularly, every few months, postponing the deadlines for capturing our regions, first and foremost Donetsk region. You will not capture it this year.

But we in Ukraine do not want a permanent war. We know very well that without war, it is immeasurably better. We want to achieve that.

I am certain that the majority of Russians are ready to give a positive answer to that, and you know it.

Many did not believe that Ukraine would hold out this long in its defense.

You did not believe it. And those who advised you did not believe it either. That was a mistake.

You did not expect full-scale resistance from Ukraine and did not foresee that everything would go this far. But we are all still here, in the fifth year of the full-scale confrontation.

Do not be afraid to leave the war, that is the main thing now required of you.”