Ukraine celebrates the 33rd anniversary of Independence, for which it has paid a high price. Happy Independence Day, Ukraine!

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«We will always remember our heroes and will be grateful to each and every one who defended our statehood, our independence.
Eternal and bright memory to our defenders, men and women, who fought for a free Ukraine!” — Ukrainian President Zelensky.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Ukrainians on Independence Day, emphasizing that “Russia will learn what retribution is, Ukrainian style.” In his address, he stated that “Ukrainians always repay their debts,” and those who wished misfortune on Ukraine will receive it on their own territory, with interest. Zelensky emphasized that the evil sown on Ukrainian soil will return to Russia: “This is not a prophecy, not gloating, not blind revenge, this is a pattern. Justice. A boomerang for evil.”

The President recalled that 913 days ago Russia invaded Ukraine through the Sumy region, violating borders and limits of cruelty. Today, according to him, Ukraine responds symmetrically and with dignity, and “any point in the Russian Federation that threatens Ukrainians will receive its retribution.”

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Zelensky also stated that Ukraine will not allow its lands to be turned into a gray zone: “How to live, which path to take and what choice to make, only Ukraine and Ukrainians will determine for themselves. Because that's how independence works.”

The President noted that the world sees the difference in the attitude between Russia and its citizens compared to how Ukrainian soldiers help local people, demonstrating the dignity and civilization of Ukraine.

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of Ukraine's declaration of independence, but for the past 10 years the country has been in a state of war, which historians might call the “War of Independence.” Ukraine's history has been such that it gained its independence relatively calmly and bloodlessly, and the first two decades of its existence were more or less peaceful.

However, was this independence genuine? Did Ukraine in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet empire, give it real freedom to choose its own path? Practice has shown that it did not. The post-communist leadership of Ukraine continued to look back at the former metropolis, and a significant part of society remained in the sphere of influence of the “Russian world”.

This situation began to change 10 years ago, when the first generation of people born in independent Ukraine grew up. They became the core of the second Ukrainian revolution, which was in fact a struggle for subjectivity and the right to choose. Moscow quickly realized this and unleashed a war, trying to stop the country striving for freedom.

In 2022, it became clear to Putin that political methods of control over Ukraine no longer worked. Ukrainian society had become completely different, more integrated into the Western world. Ukrainians, naturally developing, became “foreigners” for Russia, which contradicted Putin’s concept of “one people.” He launched a full-scale war, the goal of which is to destroy Ukrainian statehood and those who do not agree to submit to his ideology.

Now Ukrainians are fighting in the same war for independence that began in the early 90s. They have achieved the most important thing – Ukraine has preserved its statehood and acquired subjectivity. As General Valeriy Zaluzhny said, there are still many difficulties ahead, but Ukrainians will never be ashamed. They have won the right to their freedom with weapons in their hands, and no one will take that away from them.