Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced he will visit to the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian military volunteers.

"Now I'm leaving for the front by plane from here to also visit our volunteers," he said in Kyiv, speaking on the occasion of Ukrainian Volunteer Fighter Day.

He recalled that a mass volunteer movement was founded on March 14, 2014, it became "the driving force of the new Ukrainian army."

According to Poroshenko, 162 volunteer fighters were given state awards, 23 of them, including Hero of Ukraine General Serhiy Kulchytsky, were awarded posthumously.

The president also noted that the former volunteer divisions had been integrated into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard of Ukraine and other law-enforcement units.