The volunteer movement began in the most dangerous times for Ukraine and has become an important component of the heroic history of the Ukrainian people, writes the former secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov.
Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – March 14, 2021 – Society
In 2014, when the coffins with the heroes of the Heavenly Hundred were taken out on the Maidan when only 100 thousand hryvnias remained on the accounts of Ukraine, and the entire ruling elite, led by Yanukovych, fled like rats, having destroyed and disarmed the army before that, Russia began military aggression against our Ukraine.
It took time to mobilize, restore the combat effectiveness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, dress and arm the soldiers. But the enemy did not wait for us to be able to prepare and coordinate our troops and restore incapacitated military equipment. It was necessary to defend the state immediately. It was then that I turned to all Ukrainian patriots with an appeal not to wait for the summons to the military registration and enlistment offices, but to stand in the gap for Ukraine.
During such terrible tests, volunteer battalions began to form. Thousands of real patriots of Ukraine went to the front, without special training, without bulletproof vests and helmets, and even without military uniforms, which were not there either, with light weapons and in their own clothes. It was thanks to the volunteers who, sacrificing themselves, took upon themselves the first blow of the enemy, that the offensive on Ukraine was stopped, and we were able to gain much-needed time to restore the Armed Forces, and subsequently liberate two-thirds of Donbass. We remember everyone who gave their lives to defend Ukraine!
Happy Holidays, volunteers, may God protect you and your families! I know that if it is necessary to defend Ukraine, you will again stand up to defend it without any hesitation.
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Source: Ukrgate