Dear Ukrainians!
Today we celebrate the Day of Ukrainian Statehood!
The day when we return to the times of the founding of ancient Kyiv and the times of the Christianisation of Kyivan Rus.
The day when we remember Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and the First Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk.
The day we return to the lessons of history and the proclamation of the Act of Unification of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic.
It is also the day when we remember how Ukraine declared its independence in 1991.
At almost every stage of its development, the Ukrainian people have fought for the right to have their own borders and define their identity. For the right to autonomy and independence. For the right to choose their own path.
Today, our history and present are intertwined as never before.
Just as it was more than a thousand years ago, the Ukrainian people want to live in their own country, with their own laws, their own language, their own sovereignty and territorial integrity. With their independence.
And that is why our country has been resisting russian aggression for 873 days in an unprovoked full-scale war started by the enemy.
The Ukrainian people have shown what resistance is.
They have shown what unity and steadfastness are.
Every day, Ukrainian defenders prove what courage, bravery and heroism are, repelling the enemy.
And today we are writing a new history together.
The history of the struggle for our present and future, for the right to existence of our country, for the blue and yellow flag and for it to fly in every city.
A history that will bear the names of the Heroes – our brave soldiers.
A history about Ukraine that has withstood and won.
Glory to Ukraine and glory to its Heroes!