We never forget about you and work every day for your release - President to Ukrainians living in the occupied territories

President Petro Poroshenko emphasizes that Ukraine always remembers Ukrainians forced to live in the temporarily occupied territories of our country and continues to work for their release.

"Ukraine has become stronger, Ukraine has shown confidence in its forces. And on the Day of Unity, we sincerely appeal to our countrymen living within the borders of Ukraine, but in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, parts of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. We never forget about you. We work every day to bring the day of your liberation from the enemy"s yoke," the Head of State emphasized during the speech at the celebrations on the occasion of the Day of Unity of Ukraine and the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Act Zluky between the Ukrainian People"s Republic and the West Ukrainian People"s Republic.

To achieve this goal, we all need to preserve and strengthen our Ukrainian unity, as stated by Petro Poroshenko. "Therefore, it should be clear: Ukraine is a unitary state with one state language, as stipulated by the Ukrainian Constitution. No federations, no special status. United, independent Ukraine," the President stressed.

The Head of State reminded that the Kremlin was not going to put up with the independence of Ukraine. "And literally since the proclamation of our independence, attempts have been made to restore the Russian Empire. From our current experience, we can call these attempts the beginning of the hybrid war against Ukraine. The tools for the enemy were Ukrainian politicians who were drawing a map dividing Ukraine into Russian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking. And they indifferently watched when the army was robbed, helped tie the "gas slipknot" of the oppressive contracts on the neck of the economy," he said.

According to him, the time of truth came in 2014, when Ukraine firmly set out on the path to strengthening its freedom, independence, on the path to the European Union and on the path to NATO. "And to force us to renounce this choice, Moscow annexed Crimea and tried to split us into pieces and devour us easily. We faced the threat of the loss of unity and independence again," the President said.

Petro Poroshenko emphasized: "At the cost of great sacrifices, at the cost of great efforts of the Ukrainian people, this threat was faced off. And in a harsh confrontation with terrorists, with Russian mercenaries and with parts of the Russian regular army, we have stopped the enemy. And our slogan was: "The united country".