Poroshenko: 344,000 people become combatants in eastern Ukraine

The Armed Forces of Ukraine and 344 thousand combatants in the eastern part of our state are the guarantor of Ukraine's independence.

President Petro Poroshenko stated this while speaking at the international volunteer and veteran forum on Wednesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces are the guarantor of Ukraine's independence! 344 thousand participants of military operations in the eastern part of our state are the guarantor of our freedom, our statehood and our independence," he noted.

Poroshenko stressed that Ukraine will mark the 27th anniversary of its independence on August 24, but added that this chronometer could have stopped at the 23d anniversary, if the Ukrainian defenders had failed to defend the Ukrainian land from the aggressor.

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