On International Volunteers Day, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stressed the importance of the Ukrainian volunteer movement in defending the country from Russian aggression.

"I want to thank all the volunteers. I believe that thanks to you, at the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian army was largely created in Donbas. The modern army that we have today," Zelensky said during a visit to the Defense Ministry's Military Medical Clinical Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in Irpin, the presidential press service said.

Zelensky believes that it was the volunteers who very quickly found the national idea that Ukraine has been looking for many years.

"Volunteers with their energy and dedication in 2014 united the whole of Ukraine, protecting it from Russian aggression," he said.

Zelensky said that the state should be equal to volunteers in some issues, and promised to pay attention to those issues where the government could help and where it is underperforming.

In addition to meeting with employees of the center and volunteers, the president also visited several branches of the center, talked with servicemen and presented national awards.