At the beginning of celebrations, all the present commemorated memory of heroes who died fighting for the Ukrainian land.
Addressing the military men, Oleksandr Turchynov claimed "Your courage and bravery bring Ukraine the peace", and added "I am sure that everyone who is defending Ukraine now, has written their names into a book of heroic stories of our country".
He stressed that names of battalions stand for themselves – the ATO participants are fighting "for peace in Ukraine, its territorial integrity, and for our European choice", defending Ukrainian land and liberating it from the enemies. "We are gathering powers, strengthening our ranks in order to liberate the occupied territory, in order to liberate our country from any aggressor or invader", he emphasized.
The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada claimed that "those present here were ready to lose their lives, and many of them lost their health while fighting in the ranks of volunteer battalions".
The Chairperson of the Parliament stressed that special battalions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were confronting regular troops of "a powerful and cruel enemy" – Russia. He is sure "it will not be long until our iron battalions free not only all villages and cities in the East, but will free Crimea too, and Ukraine will be a strong and independent state, our children will be proud to be Ukrainians and to live in a powerful wealthy country".
In their turn, soldiers thanked the leadership of the country for attention to participants of volunteer battalions, claiming that during the pessimist times they are not left without support.
In this context, the Chairperson of the Parliament stressed that "regardless of the problems in our country, we will be able to provide for the heroes fighting for Ukraine". In his words, it is essential to execute the Government's decision "in order for all families of the deceased to have a chance to live decently in a free country their husbands, parents and children lost their lives for".
Some soldiers, who received apartments, became Kyiv citizens, and according to the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will be transferred for doing military service in the capital.
As it was
mentioned during the celebrations, Oleksandr Turchynov stood at the origins of establishing volunteer
battalions.
