Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has congratulated his compatriots on Independence Day and called on them to unite and develop an economically strong, democratic and independent country.

"Ukraine gained its political sovereignty 22 years ago. Today our state is doing everything to achieve economic stability and prosperity. The path walked by our country demonstrates that we can develop our own state independently and responsibly," the head of state said in a letter of congratulations on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day, which was posted on his official Web site on Saturday.

Yanukovych urged Ukrainians in this difficult time for the whole world "to unite for the sake of our common goal - the development of an economically powerful, democratic and independent Ukraine, of which our parents and descendants would be proud."

"I am confident that we can do that. Together we will build a socially fair and prosperous state. I believe in Ukrainian people, their millennial wisdom, strength and perseverance," he said.

Yanukovych also recalled that Ukraine had recently marked the 1025th anniversary of the Christianization of the Kyivan Rus, noting the special role of Christianity in the fate of the state of that time.