Dear people of the free and unconquered Chechen Republic of Ichkeria! I congratulate you on Independence Day!
Independence is what your national heroes fought for: Sheikh Mansur, Baysangur Benoevsky, Avko Ungayev, Beybulat Taymiev, Hassan Israilov and others. Now, the soldiers of the Czech units, particularly the Sheikh Mansur Battalion, together with the Ukrainian Defence Forces, stand guard over Ukrainian independence, because you know better than anyone the price of freedom.
Ukrainians and Chechens stood side by side in the most difficult times: Ukrainian soldiers from UNA-UNSO fought for the independence of Ichkeria and two of them became its heroes – Sashko Bely and Oleg Berkut. Chechens have also been bravely defending the borders of our state since 2014 and defending the united, independent Ukrainian State, for which some of them were awarded state awards.
In this difficult time for our country, the words of the first president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Dzhokhar Dudayev, are especially relevant: “When the Ukrainian sun rises, Russia will disappear.” Today, you are part of the rising of the Ukrainian sun of independence and freedom, because you are fighting so that our country will never be enslaved, so that we will never experience what you, unfortunately, had to go through.
On this day, I also want to separately thank the volunteer fighters of the Chechen Battalion, named after Sheikh Mansur, and their commander, Muslim Cheberloevsky, who, without a doubt, stood up to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, carrying out combat missions in the most challenging spots. You are worthy sons of your Motherland and loyal friends of Ukraine!
With respect to you and your contribution to our struggle
Viktor Yushchenko
