On Sunday, July 20, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, together with Ukrainian ambassadors, visited frontline positions in the Zaporizhzhia region, including the Orikhiv district.
Ukraine’s foreign policy chief shared details of the visit on the social media platform X, according to Ukrinform.
“The bravery of the people of Zaporizhzhia deserves our highest respect. Despite constant Russian terror, the region lives, grows, and maintains its resilient spirit,” Sybiha said.
According to him, Ukrainian ambassadors saw houses destroyed by Russian strikes, frontline defensive trenches, a safe underground school, critical infrastructure, key industrial facilities, and paid tribute to fallen Ukrainian heroes at the “Tree of Life” memorial.
“Such visits provide a new understanding of how people live in Ukraine, what they go through, and what their most pressing needs are. They provide diplomats with new motivation to be more persuasive and achieve more tangible results,” Sybiha wrote.
He also recalled that President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to open the Ukrainian Ambassadors Conference 2025 tomorrow, titled “From the strength of diplomacy to the diplomacy of strength.”
“We look forward to continuing our fruitful work to benefit our country,” Sybiha added, expressing gratitude to Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration Head Ivan Fedorov “for this visit and his dedicated work.”
According to a statement posted on the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s website, Sybiha stressed that such visits are crucial for both Ukrainian diplomats and foreign government officials. It is in frontline regions and at the front itself, he said, where not only Ukrainian soldiers and communities are tested, but also the resolve of Ukraine’s allies.
He highlighted the importance of timely decisions on additional defense aid packages, sanctions against the Russian economy, and international support for reconstruction and investment.
“The front line is one of the true measures of the effectiveness of decisions — and of the performance of both Ukrainian diplomacy as a whole and of individual ambassadors. The reality here is a direct assessment of our diplomatic results,” Sybiha said.
As part of the visit, the delegation toured the secure Sich Collegium, a unique underground school. Sybiha announced an agreement to support the recovery and rehabilitation of children abroad, and said efforts will continue to inspire and empower talented youth, the future generation of Ukraine’s victory. Diplomats expressed readiness to help young people broaden their horizons and welcomed the idea of seeing young professionals join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the future.
Ambassadors also received clear instructions to mobilize additional international support for the region — through investments, foreign business involvement, and municipal partnerships aimed at strengthening economic resilience and creating new opportunities for people.
The visit concluded on the historic island of Khortytsia, where Sybiha paid tribute to Viacheslav Zaitsev, a Zaporizhzhia historian and head of the information and publishing department of the Khortytsia National Reserve, who was killed in action in the fall of 2022.
Source: Sybiha, Ukrainian ambassadors visit frontline positions in Zaporizhzhia region
