Ukraine on Sunday marked Independence Day, commemorating its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowing to fight to defend the country. In a defiant speech, Zelensky said, each day, Kyiv was pushing back against Russian forces to ensure peace in Ukraine."Today, Ukraine celebrates Independence Day. Fighting, defending itself against attacks and alarms. And, very importantly, not alone. Every day, we are pushing this war back to where it came from, to the Russian sky and Russian soil," he said in a speech. "With each passing year of this war, the pressure on Russia and their real losses are increasing," he added, stressing that peace is "coming." US special envoy Keith Kellogg and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were part of the dignitaries at the anniversary. Zelenskyy and Carney sign defence agreementKellogg was in attendance at the celebrations in Kyiv, during which Zelenskyy awarded him the Ukrainian Order of Merit, of the first degree, while at a separate event, Ukrainian officials and their Canadian counterparts signed an agreement aimed at deepening bilateral defence-industrial cooperation.At a joint briefing, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced military aid to Kyiv worth 2 billion Canadian dollars (1.3 bn Euro)."We're investing today $2 billion in new military assistance for Ukraine. Eight hundred million of this will help strengthen Ukraine's arsenal for the most urgently needed defense equipment—drones, ammunition, and armoured vehicles," said Carney. "And we had a discussion today about specifying and targeting that assistance where it will have the greatest impact, and we will do so." According to Zelenskyy, the signed agreement by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal and the Minister of National Defence of Canada David McGinty on expanding and creating new production facilities in Ukraine and Canada will strengthen Ukraine's stability and ability to counter the Russian threat. Zelensky also suggested that Canada join significant energy projects; the energy ministers of the countries will discuss this.68th prisoner exchange completedMeanwhile, another prisoner exchange took place between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday, the 68th since the war broke out. According to Zelenskyy, apart from military personnel, eight Ukrainian civilians also returned home as exchanges continue on both sides.All released defence personnel belong to the ranks of privates and sergeants. Almost all of them spent more than three years in captivity.The servicemen who returned today defended the cities of Mariupol, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, and Sumy and guarded the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian authorities said.Among them was a former mayor of Kherson Volodymyr Mykolayenko.And, as reported by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Freedom, two Ukrainian journalists, Dmytro Khylyuk and Mark Kaliush, were also freed.The liberated Ukrainians will receive a full range of necessary medical examinations and appropriate treatment, according to Kyiv.