24 April, 2014

5.50 p.m.

Dear compatriots!

Terrorists who have taken the whole Donetsk region as hostages have crossed the line of humanity long ago. Armed criminals seize administrative buildings, take citizens as hostages, particularly Ukrainian and foreign journalists, torture and kill patriots of Ukraine.

Given real danger and necessity to protect people, we have resumed counterterrorist operation that is being systemically and gradually implemented in order to fully localize terrorist threat and protect peaceful citizens of our country.

At the same time, the Russian Federation coordinates and openly supports armed killers-terrorists in Eastern Ukraine. Having no grounds, Russian government allows itself intruding into the internal affairs of Ukraine impertinently.

Russia supports terrorism in our country at the state level in times when Russian citizens regularly suffer from terrorist attacks on their territory. Wars, terrorist attacks, regional separatism are well-known Russian problems that Russia tries to artificially transfer to Ukraine.

Moreover, after successful steps of Ukrainian security forces in combating terrorism, Russia has moved from public threats to demonstrative concentration of the Armed Forces along the eastern border of our country. There is a deployment and increase of the number of units that have been posing a threat for the security of our country for a long time already.

I would like to emphasize that we will not yield to the threat of terrorism and continue to take measures to protect the life of our citizens.

We demand from the Russian Federation to cease their intervention into the internal affairs of Ukraine, terminate constant threats and blackmail and withdraw their troops from the eastern border of our country.

Keeping calm and confident, we will protect our country, its sovereignty and integrity together.

God is with us, truth is with us, Ukraine is with us.