Volodymyr Zelensky on Statehood Day: We Do Not Believe That Russia Will Not Want to Return

The victory of Ukraine in the current war with Russia should be such that any attempts of the aggressor state to return to our territory do not go beyond a sick fantasy.

“We do not believe that Russia will not want to return with aggression even after we expel the occupiers from all our land. But the victory of Ukraine can and should be such that any attempts of the enemy to return do not go beyond the sick fantasy of those insane who hatch such plans,” President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said, speaking at the solemn events on the occasion of the Ukrainian Statehood Day.

According to him, “Our desire to win has determined what Ukraine will be like in the future – strong, free, European, a state without internal discord that values its internal unity.”

“To win is to confirm the values that were laid down a millennium ago. This is the choice of unity with the world, the choice to be a participant in world history in order to have the right to own national history of own people, own land, own state. This is a choice to be a force, a force that can stand up for itself as Ukraine cannot do otherwise; Ukraine will not exist otherwise,” the President said.

He emphasised that “one’s statehood is the sacred border that protects the nation from slavery, that gives the future, that burns the enemy’s equipment, that unites the best, and that restores and protects the sanctuaries.”

“Ukraine cannot be conquered because you cannot be conquered. All of you, Ukrainians, cannot be conquered, although fatigue is sometimes visible in the eyes of our people, which we understand, but which has not taken over and, I am sure, will never take over Ukraine. This fatigue will only become the fuel that will accelerate us, speed up our movement towards the national goal, towards victory,” Zelensky is confident.

As a reminder, today, 28 July, Ukrainians celebrate Statehood Day for the second time. President Volodymyr Zelensky established the holiday during the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence. It was celebrated for the first time last year amid the full-scale Russian invasion.

The date of the celebration is crucial – 28 July – because this day also marks the Day of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus, which also coincides with the church day of commemoration of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr the Great.

Bohdan Marusyak