Dear attendees, ladies and gentlemen, generals, officers, sergeants, soldiers, lecturers and cadets!
What unites you all? What unites us all?
In this address, among other things, I want to talk about this. And it's not just about today's graduation ceremony. Certainly, an important event for you and our country. It is also about the values we profess, the actions we take, the challenges we face, and the future that awaits us. What unites yesterday, today and tomorrow.
The first is choice. The choice of your own destiny and your own path. Serving the state. Protecting Ukraine. The conscious choice of millions that makes everyone a single monolithic army, regardless of gender, age or status. Generals, officers, sergeants, soldiers, cadets. Many of you have participated in combat operations in the East even before you studied for your specialties and have relevant combat experience. From the very first hours of the full-scale war, you and your lecturers took up arms, reinforced the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and bravely stood up to defend Ukraine.
This choice gives rise to the second thing that unites everyone. This is responsibility. The last years of your studies were the most difficult and life-changing for you.
With the beginning of the large-scale invasion, under fire, you successfully moved the educational and scientific units to the places of temporary deployment. In a short time, you established the educational process. We withstood and prevented the occupier from seizing important centers and institutions, including military education institutions. And today, the officer corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is being joined by a worthy replenishment of officers who graduate from your educational institutions. And I want to mention each of them. To thank each of you. To express my wishes to everyone.
I congratulate Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University on this day! Dozens of officers and cadets of your university have mastered new weapons during their studies. Among them are Bayraktar, IRIS-T, NASAMS, Patriot and many others. We are confident that in the future there will be F-16s among them. We are confident that Ukrainian combat falcons will successfully cover our skies. We are confident that our air defense system will reliably protect us from enemy missiles and UAVs.
All our people on the ground believe in you. May all the heavenly powers help you.
I congratulate the Military Institute of Tank Troops on this day!
From the first hours of the war, officers, sergeants and cadets of the Institute defended Kharkiv, performed tasks to strengthen the units of the Armed Forces and the National Guard of Ukraine, as part of tank, mechanized and rifle units, destroyed enemy manpower and equipment, together with other forces of the Kharkiv defense did not allow the occupiers to break into the city, and later participated in the liberation of many settlements in Kharkiv region.
There is a saying about tankers: "Those who forge victory with armor gloves on". I sincerely wish that the day will come when you will be able to take off these gloves and hug your parents, your children, and all your loved ones.
I congratulate the Kruty Heroes Military Institute of Telecommunications and Informatization!
From the beginning of the large-scale Russian aggression, the institute's military personnel took part in the defense of Kyiv, in particular the government quarter. For many years you have been training qualified specialists in information technology, electronic communications, and other military sciences. Immediately after the outbreak of war, you organized training for UAV operators of various types, mastering the latest communications equipment, and soon afterwards you opened a cyber lab and deployed a cyber intelligence training complex. I wish you success in your less visible, but no less important work. I wish you to ensure reliable communication and hear only good news about the small and big victories of our Homeland!
I sincerely congratulate the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy! And not only on this solemn day, because you have another reason for congratulations. This year, the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy celebrated its 30th anniversary. All this time, you have been training military doctors professionally and qualitatively for the needs of all branches and individual types of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - from among the officers. You save the lives of those who save the life of the country. You protect freedom and independence. I thank you for your important and difficult work. I wish you health and long life to you, your families and everyone you help on a daily basis.
I congratulate the lecturers and students of the Military Training Department of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine!
Together, you are training highly qualified veterinary specialists for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other important formations. Today we are countering the enemy in all directions and with all our might. And when not only the military and equipment, but also the forces of nature, everything that exists on our land, take part in achieving a common victory. When not only people become heroes, and one of the symbols of resistance and service to the country is the already legendary dog Patron. And thousands of other animals who are helping in the battle against the Russian beast both on the frontline and in the rear. And it will definitely be defeated.
I congratulate the Military Institute of Kyiv National University on this day!
Since February 24 last year, the Institute's servicemen have been defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of Kyiv as part of the Kyiv City Defense Forces, and despite constant missile and bomb attacks and artillery shelling by the enemy, they have been defending strategically important facilities.
The Military Institute of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv provides training in almost two dozen specialties and specializations. I wish all the graduates success and the soonest possible realization of the prophetic words of the Great Kobzar:
And on renewed holy land
Will be no enemy, no traitor,
But rather will be son and mother,
And people will be on the land.
I thank all the lecturers and staff of each educational institution for the training, experience, and knowledge that your students have gained and are gaining. Yesterday they were cadets, soon they will become officers, tomorrow some of them will join the ranks of our country's defense forces, while others will continue their studies to join the ranks of the Ukrainian army after obtaining a master's degree.
You are all united not only by a common choice and high responsibility. You are all united by courage, determination, patriotism, loyalty to Ukraine, readiness to defend it and the desire to liberate it.
This means - and there is no doubt about it - that there is something that will unite everyone in the future. This is victory.
And may you be united by Ukraine, its present, and its memory on your way to it. And so now I would like to honor the memory of all those who gave their lives for Ukraine in this Russian-Ukrainian war, the war for independence. I would like to honor them with a moment of silence.
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Thank you!
Glory to our Armed Forces!
Glory to our people!
Glory to Ukraine!