U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, on his first overseas trip since taking office last month, laid a wreath in Kyiv for Ukraine’s Independence Day celebration. On Monday he joined almost a dozen other European leaders, as well as other dignitaries including European Council President Antonio Costa, in visiting the city. Burnham was to co-chair a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing group of countries helping Ukraine resist Russia’s onslaught, with the leaders of France and Germany expected to join online.
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Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Embassy of Ukraine in the UK National Defence Academy of Ukraine
London, England, United Kingdom
I had the honor of meeting Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Andy Burnham during his first visit to Ukraine on such an important day.
He and his cabinet have already expressed their full support for our country in these difficult times. The strategic partnership with the United Kingdom continues to develop, and the One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement is being filled with real affairs – in defence, economics, technology, humanitarian and other areas.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the United Kingdom has been one of Ukraine’s main allies. It has provided and continues to provide Ukraine with assistance worth over £25 billion. The United Kingdom is actively helping to strengthen Ukrainian air defence – both through anti-aircraft systems and through missiles and automated cannons to intercept UAVs.
Joint technological productions are being organized, cooperation is underway in the field of drones and robotic systems, and a memorandum on the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom in space has been signed. 63,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in the United Kingdom. London has also consistently supported tough sanctions against Moscow.
Once again, I thank the United Kingdom, His Majesty the King, the government, and all British people for their effective support for Ukraine. Special thanks to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham for visiting Kyiv on this symbolic date for Ukrainians.
We continue to work 🇺🇦🇬🇧
Comment from :
We are so fortunate to have a brave ally like Ukraine.
A good, bordering on great, speech delivered with real sincerity. I was moved and impressed with the way that Andy handled himself.
The first western ally to send lethal force at the commencement of putler’s genocide was Boris with his NLAWS, which helped win the battle for Kyiv and prompted Biden to follow suit.
The first western PM to send tanks was Rishi Sunak, which prompted others to follow suit. All except one of the “Challies” are still in service. The crew escaped unhurt from the one that was destroyed. The Ukrainians love the Challies, which are often used as long range artillery to effectively smoke orcs.
It was Rishi also who first sent Storm Shadows in May 2023.
Now Andy has handed the blueprints over to Zel.
I’d like Andy next to break the unspoken taboo : put some troops at Zel’s disposal, together with a couple of RAF squadrons.
King Charles :
“As we reflect upon Ukraine’s proud history, rich culture and indomitable national spirit, we are reminded of the extraordinary fortitude Ukrainians have shown in defending their homeland and preserving the identity and values which define your nation.”
“Both my wife and I send our sincere and special wishes to you and to all Ukrainians for the possibility of peace, security and prosperity in the year ahead.”
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/08/24/8050030/index.amp
Roman Sheremeta :
Three Thoughts for Ukraine’s Independence Day
1. Ukraine is a young state of an ancient nation.
The Ukrainian nation grew out of an ethnic community more than a thousand years old. The Ukrainian state is thirty-five. That gap creates tension: the roots of Ukrainian people are very ancient, but state-building is still in its early stages. Young institutions rarely carry the weight of an old nation gracefully.
But the gap is a source of strength as much as of frustration. Behind the Ukrainian people stands a thousand-year history – not only of farmers, but of state-builders. Ukrainians stand on the shoulders of giants. Without them, Ukraine would not be what it is today.
2. Ukraine did it.
We consistently underestimate Ukraine’s achievements. Consider what actually happened: a country that, in Putin’s telling, was invented by Lenin – or, in the older imperial version of the myth, by the Austrian General Staff – has held off the onslaught of one of the world’s largest armies, backed by a state with far greater resources, for years.
Despite all odds, Ukrainians proved capable. That capacity did not appear in February 2022. It is the result of a path traveled over thirty-five years. Other countries had the same three and a half decades and stood still. Some walked backward into their own past.
Ukrainians have no reason for an inferiority complex. Look past the hysteria of social media at the actual indicators, and the picture is considerably better than the mood.
3. Ukraine knows what to do.
I like a line born at a strategic session at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: if World War III comes, it is better to be in Ukraine – because here, at least, people know what to do.
World War III is already underway.
In a world growing more dangerous and less predictable, Ukrainians – by values and by skill – are among the best prepared for the uncertainty ahead. Anyone thinking clearly will want to be friends with a nation that has this much flexibility, this much tolerance for uncertainty, this much capacity for self-organization.
Ukraine’s strength is that Ukrainians are a networked society of free people. Most politicians still do not understand this. Whoever manages to combine the strength of Ukrainian society with the strength of the Ukrainian state will go down in history.
Happy Independence Day.
Source: Adapted from a post by Valerii Pekar.
Britons share Ukrainian DNA :
https://www.dailymail.com/home/books/article-16002961/Magnificent-moustachioed-Brits-fought-Romans-death-Conquest-Ferdinand-Addis.html
Lewi Whalberg from Stand With Ukraine:
For twelve years, Russia has been trying to break the Ukrainian people. It has now been 1644 days of full-scale war. And every day of this struggle has a face. It is the face of all our people who continue to act, work, help, and do everything to ensure that Ukraine exists. Thank you to each and every one of you.
I thank our soldiers who are fighting for Ukraine, for our cities and villages, for the opportunity to live on our land. To everyone who holds the front line and prevents the enemy from breaking us.
I thank everyone who supports the front: those who raise funds, provide essential supplies, help the military, and work to develop our defense industry.
I thank our doctors who fight for life every day in operating rooms, and who bring our people back from the most critical conditions. To everyone who helps our soldiers recover. To our rescuers, who are the first to arrive where the enemy brings death and destruction. To everyone who works under fire, restoring electricity, water, communication, roads, and heating.
I thank every family that holds together, raises children, and cherishes Ukrainian values. To all our teachers who continue to educate and support children in these difficult conditions. To our children, who are stronger than all the evil that Russia brings us.
Everyone who does not give up, who helps, who protects, who heals, who rescues, who works, and who supports others – that is our Ukrainian strength. It is through the daily efforts of millions of people that our resilience is built. And it is thanks to you that Ukraine lives, fights, and will endure. Thank you!
https://t.me/dnipropetrovskaODA/31620?single
Glory to our people!
Glory to Ukraine!
Freedom cannot be drowned in blood.
We will defend our freedom, we do not want foreign freedom.
We will stand firm, Moscow will fall.
Dear Mother, happy birthday!
In those lines from the school textbook and the engraved formula of the struggle of the Ukrainian Nation:
“To live – I do not ask anyone for rights.
To live – I will tear apart all chains.
I assert myself, I assert myself,
because I live.
I am a people that the power of Truth
has never been conquered by anyone.
What misfortune has befallen me, what plague has struck me!-
but the power has blossomed again…”
P.Tychyna.
Happy Independence Day of Ukraine🇺🇦
MADYAR🇺🇦
24.08.26
ZELENSKY: UKRAINE WANTS PEACE, BUT WILL NOT SURRENDER
President Volodymyr Zelensky has marked Ukraine’s 35th Independence Day with a defiant message to Moscow and the world, declaring that Ukraine will not give up its land or sovereignty to buy peace.
Speaking in a video address recorded in front of the golden-domed St. Michael’s Monastery in Kyiv, wearing a traditional embroidered shirt, Zelensky said: “Ukraine absolutely wants peace, but it is not ready to simply surrender.”
“Ukraine is different, and it does not give away what is its own.” “We will find a solution to Russia’s ballistic terror.”
The speech comes as foreign leaders, including UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and European Council President Antonio Costa, gathered in Kyiv for celebrations and a Coalition of the Willing meeting.
Zelensky thanked partners for standing with Ukraine and renewed his call for more air defence systems to protect Ukrainian cities.
He rejected Russia’s demand that Kyiv cede the remaining part of the Donbas, saying after four and a half years of full-scale war, surrender would not stop further aggression.
George Kwame Arko from Stand With Ukraine