As part of a working trip to the Lviv region, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy and got himself acquainted with the organization of the educational process at the institution.
The Head of State talked with the staff of the academy. The President noted that all employees well understand the challenges facing Ukraine.
"You know who our enemy is, what he is capable of. You know that we are doing absolutely everything to win this war. You know that even after our victory, this neighbor of Ukraine will not disappear," he said during his speech.
That is why, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all those who can effectively defend our state on the battlefield are and will remain the foundation of the security of the Ukrainian people.
"And a patriotic, educated, competent and simply decent officer is and will always be a central figure in the defense system of Ukrainian statehood," the President noted.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that the lives of soldiers and the outcome of hostilities largely depend on the quality of training of officers and the level of lecturers. He emphasized that during the years of independence, more than 10,000 high-class specialists for the Armed Forces were trained at the National Ground Forces Academy, and during the war, more than 1,500 graduates and lecturers of the institution were awarded state awards. 32 officers were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine, nine of them posthumously.
"Ukraine will always remember its warriors, its heroes, who gave their lives for the freedom of our people," said the Head of State.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed special gratitude to the lecturers who, from the first days of the full-scale invasion of Russia, became part of the consolidated rifle battalions formed on the basis of the academy and bravely defended the outskirts of Kyiv.
"The effective defense of Kyiv became one of the heroic pages in the history of the academy and will inspire future generations of Ukrainian cadets who will study right here, in the city of Lviv, in the united, free and independent Ukraine," he emphasized.
At the end of the meeting, the President presented lecturers and cadets with state awards.
