Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny has thanked the residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine for helping the Ukrainian defenders to repel the Russian invaders.

"More than 1,000 square kilometers [of occupied Ukrainian territory] have been liberated from the occupiers in a few recent days. This is very difficult, but we are moving forward. I am grateful to the fellow citizens who help and wait for us," he said on the Telegram channel on Friday.