On May 9, Ukraine has a public holiday – Victory Day over Nazism in World War II. This year’s celebrations take place during the ongoing Russian invasion. On Monday, the speech of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, was published, recorded on this occasion in Khreschatyk, Kiev’s main alley.

Victory day. Volodymyr Zelensky gives a speech

At first, the Ukrainian leader reminded that on August 30, 2021, Ukraine celebrates the 30th anniversary of its independence. – Our soldiers and equipment marched over Khreschatyk, our “Mrija” was in the sky – recalled the president, walking along the now empty alley and past more barricades. Zelensky quotes the poet and philosopher Hryhorij Skovoroda: “Nothing is more dangerous than a dangerous enemy, but nothing is more poisonous than a false friend.” – On February 24, we understood this truth when a fake friend started a war – he emphasized.

The Ukrainian president pointed out that “this is not a war of two armies, this is a war of two world views.” He called the Russian fighters “barbarians who opened fire on the Skoworoda museum and believed that Ukrainian philosophy could be destroyed by rockets.” – It annoys them, it is foreign to them, it frightens them – it consists in the fact that we are free people going our own way – he said.

“We become wiser thanks to the knowledge of one book”

– Today we celebrate Victory Day over Nazism. We are proud that our ancestors, along with the other countries of the anti-Nazi coalition, defeated Nazism. We will not let anyone take this victory from us. “Our enemies dream that we will give up the celebration of May 9 and the victory over Nazism,” Zelenskiy said. The president noted that Ukraine expelled the Nazis, incl. from Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Yalta, Simferopol and Mariupol. He stressed that this gave hope for victory. – What advantage do we have over our enemies? We are wiser thanks to the knowledge of one book – a textbook on the history of Ukraine. We would not suffer if all our enemies could read and draw the right conclusions – he said.

Zelenskiy: Soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine

The president stressed that the country “went through various wars, but they all had the same goal”. “Our land is littered with bullets and missiles, but no enemy has roots here,” he said. Zelenskiy also stressed that the country “will never forget what its ancestors did during World War II.” – We don’t say (like Russia – editor’s note): “we can repeat”, because only crazy people want to repeat 2,194 days of war. Those who have repeated the horrific crimes of the current Hitler regime are copying Nazi philosophy and copying what they did (…). Soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine, and someone will not even have them – said the president. – We won then, we will also win now, and Khreschatyk will see a victory parade – concludes Zelensky’s speech.

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