Together with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy initiates the elaboration of a ceremony of honoring the Ukrainian military who died for their homeland.
During the presentation of new Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Taran, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that yesterday, in the area of the Joint Forces Operation, enemy troops attacked Ukrainian positions using weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements. The enemy also fired at a military truck of one of the JFO units.
"Unfortunately, three of our warriors were killed. My sincere condolences to their families and relatives,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
The memory of the fallen heroes was honored with a moment of silence.
According to the President, everything is being done now for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
"But I do not advise the enemy to think that our desire for peace weakens our ability to fight back," the President said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasizes that Ukrainian military are always authorized to respond to the aggressor's actions.
«Anyone who thinks that it is possible to fire at Ukrainian soldiers without being punished is fatally mistaken. And this is evidenced by the statistics of the enemy's losses in March,” the Head of State said.
The President emphasized the importance of honoring the soldiers killed in eastern Ukraine.
“A ceremony of honoring every hero who sacrificed his life for the homeland is currently being developed. We all pray to God for there to be as few such ceremonies as possible. But for the time being, there is a war going on and the memory of anyone who died for Ukraine will be honored properly,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The Head of State reminded that the bodies of the crew and Ukrainian citizens who were killed in the crash of the UIA plane in Iran were returned home in January this year. "Then I applied to the Ministry of Defense and asked to elaborate the same high-level ceremony for every hero returning from Donbas," the President said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that such a plan should be drawn up in the coming week with the participation of the new Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.
“We are ready to assist within the President's Office. I personally also want to work on this issue so that in every town where our heroes return, we do not only treat them with respect, but also honor them at the highest level in the world,” the Head of State said.