Defenders of Ukraine Day: Honor and Gratitude

On this day, we pay tribute to all those who defend Ukraine — our land, our home, and our shared future.
Today, Ukrainian defenders are protecting more than just territory. They are standing up for the right of every ethnic group to live on this land, to preserve their uniqueness and cultural identity.

Empires have always tried to erase people’s identities — to make everyone the same: uniform, flattened, obedient.
But Ukraine’s strength lies in its diversity. And, at the same time, in its unity.
We are different: Ukrainians, Armenians, Djanes, Hungarians, Bulgarians, Greeks… And yet all of us are Ukrainian.
Together — shoulder to shoulder — we are fighting for the right to be ourselves, in our country, in our home.

In the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, no one is asked whether they are an ethnic Roma, a Hungarian, or a Ukrainian.
All are brothers and sisters in arms, united by a common purpose: to win, and to preserve our freedom.

And today, among the defenders of Ukraine — there are also Roma.
Because Ukraine is our shared home.

We are not only fighting for land.
We are defending the right to preserve this diversity, to live without fear, to be ourselves.
To be Ukrainian and Roma.
To be Ukrainian with Armenian, Hungarian, or Roma roots.
To be Ukrainian — and to be free.

We thank every Defender — every man and every woman — for their courage,
for giving us a future,
for protecting our right to be who we are.
Every dawn. Every day.