Commenting on the anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity and the annexation of Crimea, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyy said that this is a war "not only for Ukraine's independence and liberation from Russian occupiers", but also a war "for freedom and values of the free world, for our civilisational choice".
"We did not start this war - it was an unprovoked and criminal Russian invasion. But we must end this war by liberating all our lands. And our people," he said.
He noted that it was in Crimea that the first serviceman died for Ukraine as a result of Russian aggression. "This is Warrant Officer Serhiy Kokurin, who was killed in an engagement with Russian invaders on 18 March 2014, during the Russian storming of the photogrammetric centre of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Simferopol," he noted.
He added that "the evil empire and its puppets dreamed of conquering Ukraine in three days and seizing our capital Kyiv. But they did not take into account the unity and resilience of the Ukrainian people. The invaders broke their teeth on the unbreakable titans - the defenders of Ukraine's independence".
"Thanks to the courage and resilience of our soldiers, thanks to the timely and powerful international support of our partner countries, for which we are sincerely and immensely grateful, Ukraine is holding the line and inflicting losses on the Russian invaders. For 10 years now, Ukraine has been fighting not only for its freedom, but for peace of the entire Free World!" he stressed.