On September 15, the Higher Vocational School of the Lviv State University of Life Safety (Vinnytsia) held celebrations on the occasion of the Day of the Rescuer and the Oath of Allegiance to the Ukrainian people.
This year, 280 boys and 25 girls from 18 regions of Ukraine joined the ranks of future rescuers, who are also called "Heroes without weapons". After the solemn ceremony of taking the Oath by cadets and the Oath by first-year students and lyceum students, the young generation of rescuers was awarded the first special rank of private in the Civil Defense Service and presented with symbolic shoulder straps.
The acting head, Colonel of the Civil Protection Service Volodymyr Kotsyur, delivered sincere wishes, wise instructions and advice. The students and the staff of the school were congratulated by MPs Serhiy Mandziy and Yuriy Zaslavsky, Vice-Rector of Lviv State University of Life Safety, Civil Service Colonel Dmytro Chaly, and Head of the Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Vinnytsia Region, Civil Service Colonel Ruslan Shevchuk.
The future rescuers and their mentors were addressed by Archpriest Vitaliy Holoskevych, a clergyman of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Vinnytsia, who, together with Archdeacon Vladyslav Demchenko, Secretary of the Vinnytsia-Bar Diocese of the OCU, was among the honored guests at the event. The priest emphasized the importance of the work of the rescuers, which is essentially a service to people for whose salvation they often have to risk their own lives.
Archpriest Vitaliy noted that starting this year, when the Ukrainian Church switched to the New Julian calendar, the Day of Rescuer will be celebrated on the day of the Holy Martyrs Vira, Nadiia and Liubov. "The Ukrainian people believe in you and your senior colleagues, rely on you in difficult circumstances and love you because your vocation is to save the most valuable thing people have - their lives," the priest emphasized, addressing the cadets and students.
Father Vitaliy conveyed greetings to the students and their teachers from Metropolitan Symeon of Vinnytsia and Bar, and then read a prayer and sprinkled holy water on the audience with wishes of God's blessing and help in their studies and work.
Photos by the Press Service of the Higher Vocational School of the Lviv State University of Life Safety (Vinnytsia)
Press service of the Diocese of Vinnytsia and Bar of the UOC (OCU)
