On the occasion of the Day of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented military personnel with high state awards and conferred military ranks.
The ceremony took place in the White Hall of Heroes of Ukraine in the Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv.
The Head of State congratulated the defenders on the Day of the Ground Forces: "This is a professional holiday of those warriors whose shoulders are the backbone of our defense and whose movement is the movement of our army towards liberating our land."
The President also congratulated the warriors who are currently serving on the frontline.
"Soldiers, officers, the commander of the Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, all mechanized and tank troops, missile troops and artillery, army aviation and air defense, units of rear and technical support, special forces - all of them are thousands of fighters who prove every day and night that Ukraine cannot be defeated, and Ukrainians cannot be conquered," he emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the warriors of the Ground Forces of the AFU have demonstrated their effectiveness and extraordinary resilience since 2014. And hundreds of cities and villages of Ukraine were liberated precisely thanks to ground soldiers.
"We must remember that behind every achievement of our defense forces are the lives of heroes who gave their lives for independence," the Head of State said.
The participants of the ceremony honored the memory of fallen warriors with a moment of silence.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the state awards in the presence of Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhny. He emphasized that it is the highest honor for him to award the Ukrainian military and to hand over well-deserved orders to the relatives of the fallen defenders.
"None of us knows how many more such ceremonies will take place before we get to the main, desired ceremony for which millions of Ukrainians are waiting. But there will be a Ukrainian victory. We will celebrate it. I ask all of you: in thoughts about our victory, in anticipation of our victory, in the future celebration of our victory and after our victory, please always keep one feeling - a feeling of gratitude to the warriors who are gaining victory for Ukraine. And a feeling of gratitude to the families of our warriors, who gave the Ukrainian nation such heroic people," said the President.
