President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky believes that on May 9, it is necessary to sincerely and without unnecessary pathos commemorate all the Ukrainians and other peoples of the anti-Hitler coalition who contributed to the victory over Nazism in World War II.

"We will never forget the terrible price of this victory. According to various estimates, this is at least 50 million victims, of which more than 8 million are killed and tortured Ukrainians. Remembering all the horrors of that period, we do not make the war a cult. And this important day is not an advertising campaign, not a slogan competition, not a pompous dance on the bones competition. Because to honor the feat of everyone who brought the victory closer, the main thing is not loudness, but sincerity. And our victory is in everyone's heart [saying these words Zelensky had a hand on his heart]," he said in a video address to Ukrainians on the occasion of Victory Day over Nazism in World War II.

Zelensky thinks that it is a shame that we mention veterans, who are very few today, mostly on these May days, but we must thank them every day instead since "they gave their youth to the war so that we could have our youth."

"More than seven million Ukrainians in the Anti-Hitler Coalition opposed Nazism both in their homeland and on different continents of the planet. Undoubtedly, a human feat does not have a passport. But the contribution of Ukrainians to the victory over Nazism is enormous. And today no one can privatize victory. No one can say that it could have happened without Ukrainians. We must not forget this, we must not be ashamed and give up the feats of our Ukrainian heroes to anyone else," the head of state noted.

Zelensky recalled the names that Ukraine can and should be proud of: "This is Ivan Kozhedub, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, the best pilot of World War II, who shot down more than 60 enemy aircraft; Nicholas Oresko, the recipient of the Medal of Honor and the Purple Heart - the highest military decorations in the United States, who was personally awarded by President Harry Truman in the White House; Yevdokia Zavaliy - the first and only woman - commander of a platoon of marines that took part in the battles for Kerch and Sevastopol; Olena Witter, who saved dozens of Jewish children in the Holocaust and became the first Ukrainian to receive the title of Righteous Among the Nations; Crimean Tatar Amet-Khan Sultan, who destroyed 30 German aircraft, received two Golden Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and at the time of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars did not renounce his people and fought for their rights; Tetiana Marcus, an underground representative who killed several dozen Nazi soldiers and officers at the age of 21 during the occupation of Kyiv and was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine; workers of the Kharkiv Machine Building Design Bureau, who created the legendary T-34, and Ihor Pobirchenko, who was the first to break the gate of the Auschwitz concentration camp on this tank; academician Oleksandr Bohomolets, whose blood collection and transfusion system saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of wounded soldiers; poet Olena Teliha executed by the Nazis in Babyn Yar; Vasyl Kurka, who became a sniper at the age of 16 and killed a total of 179 enemies; Maria Shcherbachenko, who carried 112 wounded off the battlefield; Alex Diachenko, after whom the destroyer of the U.S. Navy was named; Oleksiy Berest, a native of the Sumy region, who hoisted the USSR flag over the Reichstag; and Michael Strank, a native of the Ukrainian Lemko family, who raised the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima."

"These and hundreds of thousands of other names today inspire the current generation of Ukrainian defenders. With their courage, self-sacrifice and the main truth: 'Ukrainians will definitely win,'" Zelensky stressed.