By Tom Balmforth and Olena Harmash

Kiev (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday touted a newly developed Ukrainian “drone missile” he said would bring the war back to Russia, while mocking Russian Vladimir Putin as a “sick old man from Red Square”.

As Ukraine celebrated 33 years of independence from the Soviet Union, Zelenskiy said the new weapon, Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically produced drones Kiev has used so far in its fight against Russia, attacking Russian oil refineries and military airfields.

“Our enemy will … know what the Ukrainian way of retaliation is. Dignified, symmetrical, long-range,” he said.

Zelenskiy said the new type of Ukrainian weapon had been successfully used to strike a target in Russia, but he did not say where.

He used mocking language to describe Russia’s 71-year-old president and Moscow’s nuclear rhetoric.

“A sick old man from Red Square who constantly threatens everyone with the red button will not impose any of his red lines on us,” he said in a video on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, which has attacked Ukraine with thousands of missiles and drones since the February 2022 invasion, has labeled Ukraine’s drone attacks as terrorism. Moscow’s troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine, occupying 18% of the country.

Zelensky is pressuring Kiev’s allies to allow him to deploy Western weapons deeper into Russian territory, including targeting air bases used by Russian fighter jets that are bombarding Ukraine with missiles and glider bombs.

“I want to emphasize once again that our new arms decisions, including Palianytsia, are a realistic approach, while some of our partners, unfortunately, are postponing their decisions,” Zelenskiy told a news conference.

Ukrainians say that the word “Palianytsia”, a type of Ukrainian bread, is too difficult for Russians to pronounce. It was used during the war – sometimes humorously – to distinguish Ukrainians from Russians.

“It will be very difficult for Russia, it is even difficult to say what exactly it hit,” Zelenskyy said of the unmanned rocket.

HIGHEST COMMANDER PROMOTED

In a decree, Zelenskyy promoted his top commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, to the rank of general, a tacit gesture of praise following Ukraine’s lightning-fast border invasion of Russia’s Kursk region on August 6.

The invasion of Ukraine is seen by Russia as an escalation and a major provocation. According to Kiev, more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region have been captured. It is the largest invasion of Russia since World War II.

At a joint press conference with the leaders of Poland and Lithuania, Zelensky told reporters the operation was partly a preventive measure to stop Russian plans to capture the northern city of Sumy.

In addition to capturing prisoners of war and creating a “buffer zone,” Zelenskiy said the operation had other goals that he could not disclose.

Independence Day has become even more important for Ukrainians during the invasion, fueling widespread patriotic sentiment.

This year, the national holiday came after the US and German embassies warned of an increased risk of Russian missile and drone attacks in the country.

By 6pm local time there had been no major attacks, but late in the afternoon the air raid siren sounded in Kiev.

To mark the date, Zelenskiy ratified the Rome Statute, paving the way for Ukraine to join the International Criminal Court. This is one of many steps needed to join the European Union. Accession is seen as a priority by Kyiv.

He also signed a law banning the activities of religious groups with ties to Russia, creating a legal instrument that allows the government to ban a branch of the Orthodox Church with ties to Russia.

Ukraine and Russia also said they had each secured the release of 115 prisoners of war in an exchange. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its released servicemen were captured during the Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region.

(Reporting by Olena Harmash and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Hugh Lawson)