Poroshenko: No empire will divide Ukrainians ever again

“We are united and free. No empire will divide us ever again. We go our own way and the army protects our land, the language protects our heart, and the faith protects our soul along this way,” President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said, speaking at a solemn event on the occasion of the Day of Unity of Ukraine at the Sofiyska Square in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

He added that Ukrainians had every reason forbeing confident about their future.

As reported, Ukraine marks the Day of Unity on January 22, the day when the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (WUPR) signed a Unification Act in 1919.

The holiday was officially established in 1999, taking into account the great political and historical significance of the unification of the UPR and WUPR for the formation of a single Ukrainian state. In 2011, the Day of Unity was merged with the Freedom Day, celebrated earlier on November 22, into the Day of Unity and Freedom of Ukraine. However, in 2014, President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree restoring the holiday as the Day of Unity of Ukraine.

This year, in the centennial of the signing of the Unification Act, this holiday is celebrated under the slogan "Together of our own free will since 1919."