Dear Ukrainians!
Today is a special day – October 1, Pokrova and the Day of the Defenders of Ukraine. On important national days like this, I often record my addresses in places of special significance. Maidan, St. Sophia, the Lavra, and other truly famous, symbolic, powerful landmarks. But Ukraine also has places with no grand architecture, and they may not be as picturesque, but they are, in fact, significant and deeply important for us, for our state, for our independence. And that’s exactly where I am now. The front. There are quite a few places like this. And it is in these very places, and in this very way, that our history is being written today. Right here – on a wooden floor, among camouflage nets, of course, among our patches and our flags – in places like this, without exaggeration, the fate of Ukraine, Europe, and the free world is being decided. This is where independence is won. And the path to peace runs through these very labyrinths, these very corridors. And when we say, “Ukraine is holding on,” this resilience begins right here at the front, in command posts like this and at every one of our positions – where Ukraine is – because Ukraine has defenders. It has our warriors. The people who turn places like this into places of our true strength, Ukrainian strength.
In the military, they know well the words of the warrior and poet Maksym Kryvtsov: “When they ask me what war is, I will answer without hesitation: names.”
Vitalii Skakun, Da Vinci, Nazarii Hryntsevych – Grenka, Juice, Andrii Verkhohliad, Iryna Tsybukh, Petrychenko, Oleksandr Matsievskyi – and many other names of this war. And every Ukrainian family, every one of us, has names just like these – names you truly want to remember and mourn, names you are proud of and grateful to. All of this is about our heroes who gave their lives so that Ukraine could live. We remember every one of them. We will not forget a single one. And we absolutely must defeat Russia, achieve peace, preserve our Ukraine, and protect Ukraine.
The 1,681st day of the full-scale war. A daily struggle, hard work. Despite the attacks, the strikes, the pain, Ukraine is holding on, destroying the occupier, and achieving what Ukraine needs – all of this is thanks to our defenders holding on. I thank you – everyone who is defending our life, defending our values, Ukraine’s right to exist, and the future of our entire beautiful state. I thank everyone who wears a patch on their shoulder, and on whose shoulders rests our independence. Soldiers and sergeants, senior personnel and sailors, our Ukrainian officers, everyone who right now is at their position, on mission, on combat duty – all those who serve Ukraine and give their all so they never give up their Ukraine. Our infantry, airborne troops, intelligence, air defense, combat aviation, naval forces, artillery, signal corps, engineers – everyone in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Special Operations Forces, the National Guard, the Security Service of Ukraine, the police who defend, the border guards. Everyone who fights the Russian evil in our skies, who operates FPVs and unmanned ground vehicles, who is behind a screen during an important operation, who liberates our land and takes back our sea – we are grateful to all of you. We are proud of all of you. We value all our Security and Defense Forces. And our combat commanders – now in senior command – are always with us, with Ukraine, right here: Khmara, Drapatyi, Palisa, Redis, Biletskyi, Ishkulov, Apostol, Skred, Obolenskyi, and all our other commanders, and the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of our warriors who stand as a shield so that Ukraine remains our home. So that Ukraine can win peace. So that life can prevail. So that Ukrainians will always live on this land. We congratulate you. Every one of you who defends Ukraine. With gratitude and respect to all our defenders, we all say today the most important thing: Glory to you!
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the Heroes!