Almost no one speaks – there is virtual silence apart from the sound of passing vehicles and the wind blowing across flags and photographs commemorating the dead in a war that began 1,000 days ago when Russia invaded the country.

What is truly striking is the sheer number of people who died, and this memorial on Maidan Square in kyiv represents just a few of those who gave their lives defending their country.

Soldiers in camouflage uniforms stop to pay their respects to their comrades, civilians stop and stare, often bowing their heads.

At the same time, alerts on cell phones announce a new missile strike on Ukraine. This time in the port city of Odessa.

More deaths, more injuries, it never stops there.

As this war continues and Russia makes significant progress in the East, it speaks volumes about the determination of the Ukrainian people to continue.

For months, the Ukrainian government has asked the United States and its Western partners for permission to use long-range weapons to attack deep inside Russia.

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These weapons would allow Ukraine to target airfields and bases from where drones and missiles are launched against Ukraine, as well as attack supply routes and military camps. In fact, taking the fight to Russia.

Time and time again, civilians and soldiers tell me that the West and the United States are afraid of annoying or provoking Russia. Rightly or wrongly, most believe the West is happy for Ukraine to stay the course but not beat Russia.

The news that President Biden, in the twilight of his term, changed his position authorizing the firing of American missiles at Russia, was greeted with euphoria.

Although this is tempered by his decision to allow their use only in Russia’s Kursk region, where North Korean troops are reinforcing the Russian military.

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I met Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko in the capital, she heard the news when she was returning to Ukraine after a trip abroad.

She says the decision has “lifted morale here” and calls it “hugely significant,” but says it needs to go further.

“As MPs, we have echoed the president in every meeting we have abroad, asking for permission to strike inside Russian territory, which means permission to liquidate 16 airbases from which Russia sends daily and nightly planes carrying missiles that hit Ukrainian homes and infrastructure and make civilian life impossible in the country,” she told me.

She continued: “Having permission to strike inside the whole of Russia would really change the situation, first and foremost for the Ukrainian people, but also on the battlefield.”

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She told me that despite the war dragging on, the Ukrainian people remain determined and united.

“Resilience is still there, for us this resilience is synonymous with survival. If Ukraine stops the fighting, there will be no Ukraine, there will be no us as Ukrainians, there will be no “There will be no housing, we will not be allowed to live under the Ukrainian flag so the only option here is to make sure that Russia stops fighting and can never fight again.”

Over the past two weeks, I have traveled this immense country from west to east.

It seems to me that one can barely pass a town or village cemetery without the blue and gold colors of the Ukrainian flag punctuating the gray sky – marking the graves of the war dead.

A thousand days since the Russian invasion began, soldiers and civilians continue to die, but Ukraine continues to fight.

A thousand days ago, few people thought this was likely.