Dear Ukrainians! Dear Slavutych!
Today we are here to honor the importance of everyone to the lives of all.
38 years ago, the Chornobyl disaster occurred. A radiation accident whose consequences went far beyond this region of ours, the whole of Ukraine, and even our entire Europe. The whole world felt that disaster. But still, it was localized. The unfolding of the catastrophe was stopped – stopped because there was no cowardice of our people, no indifference of Ukrainians.
People stood up to defend life and fulfilled their duty – everyone who was involved. Our real people stopped the fire at the Chornobyl station. They saved three power units of the Chornobyl NPP. They decontaminated the territory. They built a sarcophagus that covered what was left after the explosion at the fourth reactor. They built a system to monitor and control the situation at the plant and in the Chornobyl zone. There are thousands of heroes, thousands of brave characters behind every such action. Thousands of people. These are the people who saved millions of others. Not only we in Ukraine, but all of humanity must always remember this and always honor all those who put their lives and health on the line between the catastrophe and the life of our country and the whole world.
Please observe a minute of silence in memory of the heroes – liquidators of the Chornobyl disaster.
Thank you.
I would also like to express our respect to all the people in Slavutych – each and every one of them who retained the courage and dedication to protecting lives that saved us all in 1986 and helped Ukraine in the spring of 2022. Slavutych did not submit to the occupiers. It showed its temper. It fought. It defended itself. And we all saw you right here on this square. We also saw the heroism of those of our people who worked shifts at the station during the Russian occupation. And all this helped our entire state to stop the unfolding catastrophe brought by the Russian army. People saved Ukraine in 2022, and it is only people, our entire nation, that will defeat Putin. No evil can stand against brave people who do everything to protect life. This is exactly who our people are, who you are. We can do things that would seem impossible for many others in the world. We can make sure that life prevails. And we must always remember that everyone's life depends on personal choices and courageous actions.
I want to thank all those who defended lives 38 years ago! And I want to thank each and every one of you who stood up to the enemy in 2022!
I see the relatives and friends of the captives here. We have brought some of them back home. I want you to know, I want you to hear us – we are here. We will definitely return everything. Not only our territory, but first of all our people, all our POWs: both military and civilians, warriors of both our Armed Forces and our National Guard. We remember everyone. We will definitely do it.
I am proud of everyone who is fighting for the sake of Ukraine and life now and will surely emerge victorious.
Glory to Ukraine!
