In the course of military operations on the territory of Ukraine about three million Soviet soldiers and officers were killed and nearly 1.4 million fall prisoners of war 3.9 million civilians were killed - every sixth inhabitant of Ukraine. More than 2 million Ukrainians were taken for forced labor to Germany. 700 cities and 28 thousand villages were fully or partially destroyed.

Today we pay tribute to soldiers who died in battles for the liberation of Ukraine, and civilians affected by the actions of Nazi occupation. Ukraine will always remember those who defended it by the cost of their lives and saved it during the war years.

 The horrors of Nazi occupation have not erased from the memory of the Ukrainian people. And now, 70 years later the part of the territory of Ukraine was again occupied by a foreign state. Ukrainian people forced to defend with arms its freedom independence and territorial integrity of their homeland again. War crimes and terrifying bloodshed came to our land.

The awfulness of the current situation is that the Ukrainian lands were captured by Russia. The neighbor with whom we fought side-by-side against the Nazi invasion have came with guns came to capture part of our Motherland.

Breaking the fundamental principles of international law, Russian regular troops have occupied the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Eastern part of Ukraine was invaded by Russia sponsored terrorists who unleashed a war against the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian people. Thus, Russia today acts like Nazi who were repelled by whole civilized world and Russian people himself 70 years ago.

Today, aggressive Russian policy supported by ultra-chauvinistic mood of Russian population is considered not only as a threat to Ukraine and international law bat also as a threat to the core of peaceful coexistence, international peace and security in the whole World.

Ukraine hopes that the events dated 70 years back, and the memory of the millions who died in World War II and the thousands of victims of the current aggressive policy will make the current leadership of the Russian Federation to take real steps that would facilitate the removal of troops from the occupied territories, the cessation of fire, the settlement of the situation in the Donbas and Crimea on the basis of respect for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of Ukraine.