President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduces the Day of Ukrainian Statehood. He said this during a speech at a solemn parade of troops on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.
"We are a young family from the glorious dynasty of Kyivan Rus’ - Ukraine. From the ancestry of founders. Ancestry of baptists. From a brave ancestry. Wise ancestry. Cossack ancestry. We are not orphans or foundlings. We are descendants of a powerful country that was the center of Europe. But we should not only feel accordingly. We must behave accordingly," the President stressed.
He noted that the Ukrainian people are the heirs of the statehood that existed more than a thousand years ago.
"And we are beginning to celebrate the Day of Ukrainian Statehood. We consider the year of Kyiv's foundation to be its starting point. The capital of Kyivan Rus’ - Ukraine, which is rightly called the city where it all begins. Orthodoxy originated here, the Old Slavonic language originated here, and its successor is the modern Ukrainian language. This is where our statehood began. We will celebrate the birth of our statehood on the day of the flowering of our statehood - on the Day of Christianization of Kyivan Rus’ - Ukraine. And I am signing the relevant decree on all this today," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
