Independence Day of Ukraine


Independence Day of Ukraine is the main state holiday in modern Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of 1991.
Beginning in 2004, 23 August is celebrated as National Flag Day.
Generally independence day is celebrated with a military parade held in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

History

When Ukraine was still a Soviet republic, the Ukrainian diaspora traditionally recognized 22 January as Ukrainian Independence day.
The current form of the holiday was first celebrated on 16 July 1991, as the first anniversary of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine passed by the Verkhovna Rada in 1990. Since the Declaration of Independence was issued on 24 August 1991, and confirmed by the referendum of 1 December 1991, the date of the holiday was changed.

Recent and historical celebrations

1997

The Chayka Aviation Parade was a large-scale aviation show dedicated to Independence Day that took place at Kyiv Chaika Airfield in 1997. It featured flypasts by personnel of the Ukrainian Air Force. The parade was attended by President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and Minister of Defense Oleksandr Kuzmuk.

2016

After the annual military parade in Kyiv the "March of the Unconquered" was held by active members of Ukraine's volunteer battalions, relatives of those killed during the fighting in the War in Donbass and family members of those killed during the Euromaidan uprising – known in Ukraine as the "Heavenly Hundred". According to the Ukrainian army the volume of artillery fire set off by the separatist forces of the war in Donbass during the 24-hour period of 24 August 2016 was the highest since the February 2015 Battle of Debaltseve.
Several Ukrainian cities held marches of people dressed in vyshyvanky.

2019

On 10 July 2019, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Facebook that the 2019 Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations will not include a military parade stating the following: "We have decided to allocate 300 mln hryvnias as bonus payments to our servicemen, i.e. fixed-term soldiers, cadets, sergeants, officers.” Zelensky also mentioned that the government would take steps to "honor heroes" on Independence Day by highlighting the fact that the "format will be new". On 30 July, Zelensky's Head of the Presidential Administration Andriy Bohdan announced that a March of Dignity will take place in replacement of the annual parade. A separate march, known as the March of Defenders was also planned to be held by Ukrainian war veterans. The ceremony went on as planned and even incorporated elements of the annual parade such as the flag raising ceremony and the awarding of veterans. During his speech, Zelensky called for unity, saying "Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking, regardless of age, gender, religion - we must be one people".