A somber mood hangs over Ukraine’s 33rd Independence Day on Saturday, as the country’s war against Russian aggression reaches a milestone of 30 months. No fireworks, parades or concerts are planned, and instead Ukrainians will mark the day with commemorations for civilians and soldiers killed in the war.

Ukrainians have flooded social media with messages of gratitude and support, greeting each other and thanking the soldiers at the front. In the outpouring of unity, there is a shared recognition that the two and a half years have been tough, with growing fatigue.

“Independence is the silence we experience when we lose our people,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the nation. “Independence is descending into a bomb shelter during an airstrike, only to survive and rise again and again to tell the enemy: You will achieve nothing.”

Zelenskyy pointed out that the war started by Russia has now spread to its own territory. “Those who want to sow evil on our land will reap the fruits on their own soil,” he said, referring to Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region earlier this month.

The president chose to deliver his speech symbolically in the northeastern city of Sumy, just a few kilometers from the Russian border, where Ukrainian troops crossed into Russia on August 6.

“913 days ago, Russia started its war against us, partly through the Sumy region,” Zelenskyy said. “They violated not only the limits of their sovereignty, but also the limits of cruelty and common sense, driven by an insatiable desire to destroy us.”

Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia’s Kursk region gave the war a surprising twist, adding a new front to the conflict to counter Russian advances in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Ukraine quickly seized significant Russian territory, including dozens of small towns, and captured hundreds of Russian soldiers, moves that could change the course of the war.

“And those who wanted to turn our countries into a buffer zone should now worry that their own country will not become a buffer federation,” he said. “This is how independence responds.”

The Ukrainian military claims 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory in Kursk. In the past week, it has also carried out drone attacks on strategic bridges and Russian airfields and drone bases.

As Ukraine continues its offensive against Russia, it is simultaneously evacuating residents of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, as Russian troops are now 10 kilometers (6 miles) away from the strategic city.

Residents of Pokrovsk, once a city of 60,000, reported to a central school for evacuation on Friday and then boarded trains, carrying bundles of belongings, to areas farther from the conflict.

Also on Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the capital Kiev. After embracing Zelenskyy, Modi offered to help bring peace to Ukraine “as a friend.” The Indian leader’s visit, though brief, raised hopes among many in the war-torn country that he would help pave the way for an Indian role in peacemaking.