Zelensky at UNGA: It's hard for Ukraine to fall asleep to sound of explosions, gunfire

Ukraine has been suffering from the sound of explosions and gunfire in the occupied Donbas for eight years in a row, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

He said this at the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, September 22.

That's how he responded to a statement by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who ahead of the General Assembly session called on Ukraine "to wake up."

He recalled that back in 2019, he said from the UN General Assembly podium that the war in Ukraine had claimed 13,000 lives, 30,000 people wounded, and 1.5 million people forced to leave their homes.

"Every passing year those numbers are again repeated here at the UN with an adjustment that they keep growing with every passing year," Zelensky said.

In 2021, Zelensky said, it is nearly 15,000 lives lost.

"This is the price of freedom. This is the price of independence," he added.

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