Two years ago, Moscow sent troops into Ukraine from several directions in an attack that shocked the world.

"I am convinced that unity is our victory. And it will definitely happen. Because light always conquers darkness!" Syrsky said on social media.

He recalled how few believed Ukraine's smaller army could fend off a Russian advance on Kyiv in the first days of the war in 2022.

"When thousands of columns of Russian invaders moved from all directions into Ukraine, when thousands of missiles and bombs fell on our land, no one in the world believed that we would survive," he said.

"No one believed, but Ukraine did! It believed, accepted the battle and survived," Syrsky said.

He praised Ukraine's fallen soldiers and the liberation of land in the northeast and the south, while acknowledging that an "attempted Ukrainian counteroffensive... did not bring the desired result."

The Russian-born commander said that, two years on, Ukraine is still determined to fight for "every metre of our land."