Glory to Ukraine!
Dear audience, our dear Ukrainians!
Our dear Legends,
Ladies and gentlemen!
Our dear guests, Mr. President, First Lady – Alar, Sirje, thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you very much.
First and foremost, I congratulate all of us on the first day of the new year – a new year of our Independence, a new year of Ukraine.
This event is taking place on August 25 – as we enter the 36th year of our state's modern history. Every such year – a very important year – is hard for us. It comes at the cost of tremendous effort, extraordinary resilience and courage. We thank our warriors! Thank you!
This is possible thanks to our extraordinary people – Ukrainians – everyone who defends, who saves, who fights, who heals, who works – and, of course, everyone who inspires Ukrainians to live – who inspires us through their art, their words, painting and music, through their dedication and courage. This is all about you. About all our National Legends of Ukraine. Thank you!
As has always been the tradition – I want to introduce each of them today.
He is a champion of defending our skies. Symbolically, exactly 10 years ago, he graduated from the Ivan Kozhedub University. And over these years, he surpassed Kozhedub’s historic record from the Second World War – he has flown 450 combat sorties. The most ever in the modern history of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He carried out extremely difficult missions at critically low altitudes, against enemy columns in the Kyiv and Kherson regions and in our eastern direction. He has destroyed many enemy armored vehicles, artillery systems, ammunition depots, and the personnel of the occupiers. A recipient of all three degrees of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Hero of Ukraine. National Legend of Ukrainian aviation and our defense, Colonel Rostyslav Lazarenko, callsign Hrim (Thunder).
He was born in November 1945, shortly after the end of the most terrible war in human history. From an early age, he saw a devastated and ravaged Ukraine – and dedicated his life to creating something beautiful in his native land. It is hard to find a person in Ukraine who has not seen his works. Around his sculptures and monuments – all across the country – people take photographs, set up dates, and meet up. Everyone knows his Founders of Kyivan Rus and Archangel Michael, while his Independence Monument on the Maidan witnessed the Revolution of Dignity and many, many other truly historic events for all of us, for our country. National Legend of Ukrainian sculpture, Anatolii Kushch.
From her, Ukraine has always learned the main news. In December 1991, millions of our citizens, listening to Radio Promin, heard from her: “The historic referendum has taken place! And the figures are already impressive. In many regions, the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine has already been supported by almost 90 percent of our people!” Throughout her career, Ukraine heard all kinds of news from her: about victories, challenges and threats, about turning points in our history. Some news stories were unfortunately tragic, and, of course, there were also bright and very joyful ones, but they always had one main thing in common: every message to society was delivered responsibly, with every word carefully considered, and with faith that, despite everything, Ukraine would certainly prevail. National Legend of Ukrainian journalism and our television, Alla Mazur.
He is one of the leaders of the legendary, absolutely legendary team that conquered European football exactly 40 years ago. For his phenomenal speed, the world called him the “Ball Lightning.” Through his play, he proved that the Ballon d’Or in the hands of a Ukrainian is not an exception – it is the norm. In the spring of 2022, he joined the Territorial Defense Forces in his native Odesa. His photo with a rifle in his hands made headlines in international media, telling the world more truth about this unjust war. He regularly visits our Ukrainian warriors, helps the Armed Forces of Ukraine and charitable centers, our great heroes. He himself is a great athlete. National Legend of Ukrainian football, Igor Belanov.
His teachers were the legendary Borys Lyatoshynsky and Myroslav Skoryk. UNESCO’s International Music Council named his Chamber Symphony No. 3 one of the ten best works in the world. His creative legacy includes ballets, a folk opera, a requiem, dozens of magnificent symphonies and music for seventy films. Unfortunately, for health reasons, he cannot be here with us today, so I ask you to give him such a loud round of applause that he can hear it in his native Zakarpattia, where he is right now. Hero of Ukraine. National Legend of our Ukrainian music, Yevhen Stankovych.
He proved that you do not have to be born in Ukraine to have a Ukrainian heart. He and his team were there for Ukrainians, for our people, in very difficult moments, in the hardest of times – I remember it all – when it was extremely dangerous, but critically important for people. In the besieged cities of our country, in Kramatorsk, it was in Kherson, it was in Zaporizhzhia, and many other parts of our Ukraine, where World Central Kitchen was among the first to help our people with food and support. Millions of meals that are simply impossible, absolutely impossible, to count – but that are certainly impossible to forget because all of this supported and protected lives. On behalf of all those who suffered because of Russia, all those who remained in frontline cities, all Ukrainians – on whose behalf I say to you: Thank you so much! Thank you very much! And of course, gracias! National Legend of Ukraine, José Andrés.
He is considered one of our most influential Ukrainian artists of the past four decades. Theorists and curators describe him as someone who brought together three generations of Ukrainian artists. He changes the way we see contemporary art. He can “push the boundaries of painting,” turning the experience of painting into a tactile and spatial one. His works are held in many museums around the world – in Munich, Vienna and New Jersey, in private collections across Europe and the United States, and also – and this is very important – in our own Ukrainian museums: in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod and, of course, Kyiv. National Legend of Ukrainian art, Tiberiy Szilvashi.
He and his team were among the first to successfully evacuate our wounded Ukrainian warriors using unmanned ground vehicles. At the First Medical Battalion, he created five forward surgical teams and a training platoon of instructors. And together with his team, he provides medical coverage across more than 150 kilometers of active front line, combining unmanned and medical evacuation. They have carried out many successful evacuations, saved thousands of lives of our warriors, and provided assistance to more than 36,000 warriors with injuries of varying severity. National Legends of Ukrainian military medicine: Asan Charukhov, Oleksandr Dziuba, Antin Roshchin.
He dedicated his life to making life brighter and warmer for Ukrainians. Under his leadership, an extremely difficult operation was carried out – the evacuation of personnel and equipment from the Kurakhove Thermal Power Plant near the frontline. Under fire, risking his own life, he saved the people’s lives. And the relocation and protection of critically important equipment later helped restore the operation of other damaged thermal power plants in Ukraine. National Legend of Ukrainian energy, Anatolii Borychevskyi.
He fought for Ukraine’s freedom long before the restoration of independence. For his convictions and his dissident and human rights activities, he spent 27 years in captivity. In prisons, camps and exile, he never once abandoned the idea of our free Ukraine. And he lived to see exactly that – the day he had dreamed of. August 24, 1991. The author of the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. He always put his country – Ukraine – above his own ambitions. And taking part in the first presidential election, which took place simultaneously with the nationwide referendum, he always appealed to the people: “It does not matter which candidate you vote for on December 1. Most importantly, choose independence, choose Ukraine.” Distinguished statesman, Hero of Ukraine, National Legend of Ukraine, Levko Hryhorovych Lukianenko.
They created their own unmistakable style, combining rock, blues, folk, most importantly, Carpathian flair, and of course, our Ukrainian humor. They cannot be confused with anyone else. Their rock ’n’ roll is one hundred percent sincere, about Ukraine – without embellishment or pretension – exactly as our people themselves spoke about life in the 1990s. They showed that being Ukrainian is cool, exciting and trendy long before others. The voices of an entire era. Hits that now resonate with different generations of Ukrainians. Already an inseparable part of our culture.
National Legends of Ukrainian music – Braty Hadiukiny.
For half of her life, she worked as a nurse in our Kharkiv region. And in 2017, she put on a uniform and joined the Mariupol military hospital. On medical trains, she helped more than a hundred wounded warriors on each journey. And it was there, because of her care and warmth, that they lovingly called her by a word that would later become her call sign: Mama. Under heavy fire from enemy air defenses, she broke through to Azovstal. In the plant’s bunkers, under extremely difficult conditions, Mama and other medics cared for three hundred of our wounded people. And then – there was the hell of Olenivka. Forty-one days in solitary confinement for speaking Ukrainian, hunger, interrogations, the terrorist attack. She endured it all and, after rehabilitation, returned to the fight. Beside her in this fight is a warrior and her son, Vladyslav. National Legend of Ukraine, Mama Nadia – Nadiia Yarish.
He was in Ukraine on the first day of the full-scale war. He was with Ukraine all these days and remains with us to this day. He held many events in the United States – bringing all of Hollywood and many representatives of American culture and the arts together around Ukraine. I remember your words, my friend, when you gave away your Oscar: “You’ll return it after your victory.” We are doing everything we can to make that happen, and I will definitely return the Oscar to you. I’m sure of it! Ladies and gentlemen! Sean Penn – National Legend of Ukraine! He missed last year’s Oscar ceremony because he was in Ukraine. Thank you, Sean, thank you so much.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Dear Ukrainians!
Our National Legend ceremony this year highlights a very important, key – in fact fundamental – pillar of statehood. It highlights the truth – about us, our history, our fight. This truth is simple: Ukraine existed, Ukraine exists, Ukraine will exist.
One of the symbols of this is our National Legends. Those who create for people and bring glory to Ukraine for decades. Those who fought for our state and our people long before its official revival.
And all those who have shown their very best, their legendary qualities and virtues, during the full-scale war. All of you – through your work, talent, courage, and resilience that you have demonstrated all this time – you prove: Ukraine is always legendary.
Thank you! Thank you to our warriors, and to all our people! To all our friends!
Glory to Ukraine!
