Poroshenko says he spends UAH 6 bln to help AFU
Petro Poroshenko met with volunteers, European Solidarity party members, young activists and brothers on Independence Day. As the fifth president noted, there is nothing more important now than helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Poroshenko has spent UAH 6 billion of his own funds on equipment and weapons for the defense units.
Poroshenko said in the parking lot near the party office that it was here on February 24, 2022, that 2,000 volunteers came to receive weapons, undergo training and stand up for the defense of the Ukrainian capital.
After the liberation of Kyiv region, their combat paths continued in the South, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, and now some are on a "foreign mission," Poroshenko recalls. The fifth president said 2,500 people are fighting in the European Solidarity team. Unfortunately, a hundred of them have already given their lives for Ukraine – among them Hlib Babych, Oleh Barna, Taras Zherebetsky, Serhiy Ikonnikov, Yuriy Karakay, Serhiy Ilnytsky.
On the site near the European Solidarity office is another batch of equipment, which will soon be sent to the hottest parts of the front. These are powerful Foden tractors and DAF trucks, on the basis of which various modifications of command posts and mobile workshops are produced. Excavators for fortifications, ATVs for assault aircraft and evacuation of the wounded, washing and shower complexes, small FPV drones and large reconnaissance UAVs "Poseidon" and many other equipment have been delivered to brigades and battalions every week for 30 months of the war.
In total, over 200 military units have received assistance from Poroshenko since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. And this work will continue until victory, the fifth president said.
"We continue to 'burn the midnight oil' and continue our work. We are very eager for such an exhibition on the 34th anniversary of Independence to symbolize not the continuation of our struggle, but our victory," Poroshenko says.
"We, Ukrainians, are winning not only because we are the strongest, most patriotic nation. But also because we have freedom, and we will protect it, will, democracy. There must be the rule of law for joining the EU, for which we are fighting in parliament," the party's leader said.
Poroshenko also congratulated everyone on the adopted law banning the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, for which European Solidarity has been fighting for several years. "The Russian church should be banned not because someone is trying to stop someone from going to church. This is a matter of protecting national security and preventing the Russian FSB, because the moscow patriarchate church is not a church. And those who are confused there, welcome. The door is open – come to us. Unite. This brings victory closer," Poroshenko believes.
The European Solidarity leader said the slogan "Army. Language. Faith. EU and NATO" has long ceased to be political, as in fact it is the basis of real Ukrainian Independence. And this is an irrefutable truth, which is the guarantee of the future Victory of Ukraine.