Wounded churches of Ukraine, attacked by evil, slashed by Russian bullets, torn apart by KABs and missiles. Famous cathedrals in cities with millions of people and small churches in our villages. Churches, mosques, synagogues. Seven hundred and forty religious buildings of Ukraine, which Putin struck. This is who we are fighting. This is what our enemy is.

On the night of June 15, he added the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and the Assumption Cathedral to the list of evidence of his madness. Another blow, another manifestation of their inner nature, and at the same time another proof that the unity of Ukrainians is the greatest strength. That night, our Lavra survived thanks to our people.

Distinguished guests, our dear soldiers, our firefighters and rescuers, statesmen, presidents, representatives of the clergy and diplomatic corps, dear Ukrainian people!

Today is a special day. Emotionally and spiritually very strong. Sunday. Constitution Day of Ukraine. Exactly 30 years ago, an important pillar of our state's independence was erected. When Ukrainians stopped living according to the old, and most importantly, foreign law and fully began to build a new life, their life on new foundations and principles, the main of which is the right of Ukraine to be itself. Sovereign, indivisible, independent. These are fundamental things of our Basic Law - the Constitution of Ukraine. But any articles of the Constitution would be just letters on paper without millions of Ukrainians who are ready to defend our independence, their land, their rights and freedoms and do it in unity. And only then.

We have seen such unity hundreds of times. We saw this unity on the night of June 15 right here, in this symbolic place of our strength, in our Lavra, near our Assumption Cathedral. The cathedral that stood, for which we prayed together and which was saved together by the employees of the State Emergency Service – thank you, our priests, the staff of the national reserve and all those who cared. They saved unique exhibits and relics, overcame fire and wind, they did it selflessly, proactively, in a coordinated manner, despite the risk of a second enemy strike and without additional, special instructions: no one needed to explain why and how important it was.

This is symbolic, it is a manifestation of our maturity and, in particular, understanding of the Constitution of Ukraine, which gives Ukrainians guidelines, but then it is our people who fill it with meaning, fill it with life every day and prove: the power of the Fundamental Law of Ukraine is not in the legal beauty of its articles, but in the true unity of Ukraine.

It is this unity of ours – both on the night of June 15 and on the morning of February 24, and throughout the entire war – that is one of the reasons why we stand together and are standing now here, on our land, under our flags, battle banners and crosses, celebrating our holidays, paying tribute to our state, people, and Constitution. To everything that unites us, when we firmly know: Lavra stands, Sophia stands, therefore, Kyiv stands, Ukraine stands. It stands and will stand.

Because they are fighting for it and praying for it in every corner of our state. And today's joint prayer here will be a reflection of this. A unique, absolutely unique prayer, which will be held for the first time in this format and will unite priests from different regions of Ukraine. Those whose churches were damaged and destroyed by Russian strikes: wounded churches of Ukraine in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipro, Chernihiv, Irpin regions. Together with them, priests from Berdyansk, Odessa and Ternopil regions, who went through the hell of Russian captivity, will pray for Ukraine.

Father Vasyl Fedorenko, who combined God's and military service, defended Mariupol and baptized soldiers at Azovstal. Chaplain Mykola Luchinsky, who opened an exhibition about this war in the Khmelnytskyi church and brought the exhibits himself, directly after regular trips to the front.

The parish priest in the Frankivsk region, Ivan Teremko, who once suffered an amputation, and today visits and strengthens the spirit of our seriously wounded soldiers. The head of the Polish church in our Mykolaiv region, Pavel Staniaszek, who was born in Poland, but has been living in Ukraine since 2014, choosing his mission to help our people and soldiers at the front. And Valentyn Horokhovsky from Kherson, who did not surrender his church to the occupiers, took many children out of the captured city and returned to his church after the liberation of Kherson, because the truth always prevails.

Today we will hear them, we will hear their stories, which are united by the main moral: we will rebuild everything that was destroyed, because the light in the soul survived. Ukraine is strong, and strong when the state, the church, our army, the people of Ukraine and the world – the whole world that helps us so much – become one. For the sake of peace and for the sake of Ukraine. Let this not be directly written in the Constitution of Ukraine, but it exactly corresponds to the spirit of the law by which we build our lives in this difficult time, and it exactly corresponds to those bright ideas with which our fallen heroes, our heroic warriors and each and every one who gave their lives so that our state could live. I ask everyone to honor them with a minute of silence.

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen!

2026 is a special year for our state. Ukraine celebrates the anniversaries of the adoption of the Constitution, the creation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the revival of state symbols and the hryvnia, and the crowning achievement of this
August 24, 2026 is Independence Day of Ukraine. The thirty-fifth anniversary of the restoration of our independence. It is important that in such a year Ukraine is giving birth to new, significant elements of its statehood.

Today I introduced a law on the Ukrainian National Pantheon to the parliament. The names of all the heroes who fought for Ukraine in different centuries and eras, inspired Ukraine, will be combined and forever inscribed in our history with a capital letter, with great respect and attention from the state - our state, Ukraine, which respects itself, values ​​its own and protects its - its - this is very important, - its right to be Ukrainians. When no one will ever tell us how to live, how to speak, whom to love, whom to be grateful to and which heroes to honor.

And it is in this context, as a sign of such gratitude, that today we are correcting another historical injustice, and from now on, here, in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, the bust of the great Ukrainian and patron of the Lavra, Ivan Mazepa, will absolutely rightfully stand.

For centuries, Russia has tarnished his name, seeking to make Ukrainians look at their history through the eyes of others, convincing our people that Mazepa was a traitor. This is a lie, and this lie has lost. Forever.

And today we honor our outstanding statesman and military figure, patron of the arts, and head of the Cossack state, Ivan Mazepa.

And it is important that we do it right here, in the Lavra, which truly flourished under his tutelage - with churches, bell towers, and its unique Ukrainian Baroque face.

And certainly, the scale of this figure deserves a full-fledged monument in the capital of our state. I believe that the ideal place for it exists - it has existed since December 2013 on Shevchenko Boulevard. And I am sure: where Lenin fell, Mazepa will stand firmly.

Dear friends, dear citizens!

Today we are in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra. It is truly our pride. This is one of the oldest shrines of the Christian world, which was a bastion of Orthodoxy in Eastern Europe and which has always been much more than just a monastery. In times when Moscow did not yet exist, the Lavra was a source of development, where Ukrainian history, education, science, art, iconography, book printing, medicine were created. The Ukrainian soul, our memory and national identity were formed here.

Already in August, on the Assumption, the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra will be 975 years old since its foundation. This is a special milestone, because only one generation will change - and Ukrainians on this land will celebrate the millennium of the Lavra. Our national shrine, along with Sophia, the Transfiguration Cathedral of Chernigov and many other witnesses of the thousand-year existence of Kyivan Rus - all this together finally fixes the fact that the roots of Ukrainians on this land are immense, strong, their own.

It is not for nothing that I am talking now about an event that will take place in 25 years. Ukraine will meet such dates as the millennium of the Lavra with dignity. And it will begin preparations today. After all, we are talking about a long and painstaking process. This is the renewal and preservation of dozens of cultural monuments, museum collections, buildings of the Lavra, our great heritage - one of the world centers of Christianity. This requires great and joint work, which we are starting today. And we must also meet the millennium of the Lavra in unity that strengthens and protects our people and our state. I am signing the corresponding decree on this here and now.

Dear people!

Thirty years ago, the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted. The Constitution of a democratic state, free and capable of defending its values, which, thanks to the Constitution, has a good foundation for building Ukraine – a European Ukraine.

Ukraine has already come a long way, and a lot has been built on this foundation. And negotiations have already begun on our membership - future membership in the EU, and clusters are already opening, and each such step unites us - Ukraine and the European Union, Ukrainians and, of course, all of Europe. Behind each such success of the state are our citizens, our soldiers and all our people who protect the security and protect the future of all of Europe and who every day, with all their efforts, bring closer not just entry, but our establishment as an integral part of the common European home. And behind each such step are also our like-minded people from other countries, true friends and allies, tested by time and struggle, who have proven that Ukraine and Europe are one.

Ukraine will honor all such individuals with a new state award. This is the Order of Europe. A symbol of the effectiveness of the joint defense of our Europe.

Ukraine absolutely deserves to have an order with this name. It has earned it with its round-the-clock struggle for the life of Europe. And all those who stood and stand shoulder to shoulder with us in this struggle will be awarded such a distinction – the Ukrainian Order of Europe.

Dear Ukrainians, dear Ukrainian women!

I began this speech by saying how decisive a force our Ukrainian unity is. And I want to emphasize this once again, because today we are all united in the main thing: Ukraine wants peace. Ukraine wants to live its own life on its own land and be free to determine its future, choose its friends, be proud of those who truly deserve it, and be strong not to give up what is truly valuable to all of us. When Ukrainians are together and when we work towards a common goal, we achieve extraordinary things. I believe that together we will achieve what we all dream of - a strong, just peace, peace for Ukraine. That is exactly what will happen. There will be our independence. There will be our Ukrainian people. There will be our holy places. We protect them. We care about the state. We work for our Ukraine. I thank everyone who protects their neighbors and cares about our national interests as if they were their own.

Congratulations on the Constitution Day of Ukraine!

Glory to Ukraine!