Zelensky addresses Ukrainians on occasion of Day of Statehood

According to Ukrinform, the text of the address is published on the website of the President of Ukraine. 

“Ukraine cannot agree to anything less than to live. Anything less than to preserve itself. Anything less than to remain human. Ukraine will not succumb to the evil that sheds blood for its own sick self-assertion. That despises truth, both human and divine, and devalues everyone except itself. Russia builds its statehood precisely on this,” Zelensky said. 

He noted that the history of Ukrainians on this land goes back more than a millennium.

“And no matter what strangers came here, no matter who did everything to prevent Ukraine from being itself, they did not break our people and the spirit of this land. They did not break what makes us Ukraine,” Zelensky added.

He noted that today, on the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, on the Day of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus’-Ukraine, we remember the path that Ukraine has overcome, and we are fully focused on the battle that Ukraine must win.

“This battle is for our independence. So that this independence can be inherited by future generations. Inherited, not fought for. So that we can give them pride in Ukraine, not its pain. And so that no more "Putins" dare to bring ruins and suffering here,” he concluded. 

As reported, today is a public holiday in Ukraine - the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, celebrated annually on the Day of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus’-Ukraine, and this year, due to the calendar reform, for the first time on July 15.