Kiev Independence Day Parade


The Kyiv Independence Day Parade has been the main event of various celebrations of the Independence Day of Ukraine, which is celebrated annually in Kiev on August 24.

Background of the parades

The first parade in honor of Independence Day was held on Khreschatyk Street in 1994 on the country's third anniversary. The parade commander was the head of the Kyiv Military District Ivan Bizhan and inspecting the parade was the Defense Minister Vitaly Radetsky. It was then held off and on in different formats. A large-scale aviation show on Independence Day took place at Kiev Chaika Airfield in 1997, featuring flypasts by personnel of the Ukrainian Air Force. In 1998, the parade included military vehicles for the first time since 1990. The last parade of the century was in 1999.

21st century

2001

On its 10th anniversary of independence of 2001, Kyiv held its largest parade at the time. 173 pieces of equipment and 6,530 soldiers took part in the parade. Soldiers, who were dressed in old Cossack uniforms, were also at the parade. A new column of T-84s, took part in the parade for the first time. For the first time, there were parades in Lviv and Vinnytsia, Odessa, Chernihiv and Sevastopol. Russian president Vladimir Putin, Polish president Aleksander Kwaśniewski, and Macedonian president Boris Trajkovski attended the parade. It was inspected by Minister of Defense Oleksandr Kuzmuk

2003

The 2003 parade, marking the 12th anniversary of independence, included more than 5,000 soldiers from 16 battalions. The National Anthem was performed by a Ukrainian folk artist Ivo Bobul. Also first time as official title performed the march «Kozatska slava». The parade did not include military equipment. The 2003 Commander was the Chief of the Kiev Garrison Colonel-General Petro Shulyak. Inspecting the parade was Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk.

2004

The 2004 parade did not use military equipment. 19 battalions of soldiers took part in the parade. Officers who participated in the parade received a commemorative badge in honor of the 23rd anniversary of independence. The parade was inspected by Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk. The commander of the parade was Mukola Petruk.

2008

This parade was the first one since 2004 due to lack of funds for the parades. This parade celebrated the 17th anniversary of independence. Participating in the parade were 144 ground units, 22 aircraft, 8 helicopters, and over 3.5 thousand troops.

2009

In 2009, 3,400 soldiers marched on Khreshchatyk in honor of the 18th anniversary of independence. Thirty-five planes, including bombers, attack aircraft and combat helicopters flew over the capital during the parade. The highlight of the parade was the Antonov. The musical accompaniment was provided by the Massed Bands, which composed of 19 independent bands. Commanding the parade was the Ground Forces of Ukraine Colonel-General Ivan Svyda. The parade was inspected by the Chief of General Staff General of the Army of Ukraine Sergey Kirichenko.

2014

The 2014 parade was led by Lieutenant-General. The capital was lined up with 50 pieces of military equipment, including new models of the BTR-3E and the "Wasp" anti-aircraft gun. More than a thousand troops from the Armed Forces, Interior Ministry and State Border Service took part in the parade. It was inspected by Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey. The commander of the parade was Lieutenant General Pushkarov

2015

The parade went without the participation of military vehicles. In President Poroshenko's speech he mentioned the Battle of Ilovaisk and promised to not forgive those responsible. At the same time, he called the Minsk II protocol "uncontested". There were 2,300 soldiers participating in the parade. Fourteen units carried battle flags of honor with the combat banner "For courage and bravery".

2016

2016 celebrated the 25th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. The parade involved more than 4,000 soldiers of the Armed Forces, and over 200 pieces of military equipment. The parade commander was Lt. General Serhiy Popko. The soldiers paraded in the new model uniforms which incorporate details from the uniforms worn by the Ukrainian People's Army. Participants of parade honored the dead Ukrainian heroes. A minute of silence was accompanied by the folk song
The celebrations were attended by the President of Poland Andrzej Duda. Also participating in the parade was the Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade.

2017

In 2017, the parade celebrated the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's independence. 4,500 troops participated in the parade, along with 9 formations from NATO allied countries The Secretary of Defense of the United States, and the Defense ministers of Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Poland, Montenegro, Estonia, and the United Kingdom attended the ceremony.
Also there was a military equipment exhibition on Mikhaylivska Square.
Also, two other units were given honorary titles: Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky, under whose leadership the Cossacks defeated the Tsardom of Russia army near Konotop in 1659.

2018

The 2018 parade took place on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, as well as the centennial anniversary of the founding of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The parade was expected to demonstrate more than 200 new models military hardware in the mobile column. The Ukrainian military decided to include a contingent of female soldiers in the military parade for the first time since its inception. The parade was also the first to use "Glory to Ukraine" and "Glory to the Heroes" as the official greeting of the parade formations. Similar to the previous year's parade, the parade also included 15 contingents from NATO armed services as an expression of gratitude for their assistance and support to all the men and women of the armed forces, active and reserve. Also, a number of Armed Forces units were granted unit honorifics honoring Ukrainian War of Independence figures and battles and important Ukrainian military heroes.

Cancelled parades

2010-2014

Under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovich, the parade was not held at all due to budget concerns.

2019

On 10 July 2019 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Facebook that the 2019 Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations will not include a military parade. Zelensky also stated "We have decided to allocate 300 mln hryvnias as bonus payments to our servicemen, i.e. fixed-term soldiers, cadets, sergeants, officers.”

Expanded summary

As Independence Day is the national independence holiday of Ukraine the celebrations in Kiev thus serve as a national event to mark the holiday. The celebrations begin as the parade commander arrives to take his place in the parade and receives the salutes of the Commandant, National Defense University and reviews the formations in attendance.
At 10am the President arrives and personnel of the tri-service Kyiv Presidential Honor Guard Battalion marches in the formation on Independence Square, carrying the Flag of Ukraine to be raised and halts just west of the flagpole to render honors, with the massed bands of the Military Music Directorate of the Armed Forces playing music. The flag is raised to the National Anthem Shche ne vmerla Ukraina and a 21-gun salute is then fired.
The parade then prepares for its inspection by the Minister of Defense. As the vehicle carrying the Minister approaches the Massed Bands, as the Drum Majors and the Senior Director of Music signal the bands to stop playing the parade commander informs him of the readiness of the parade to be reviewed. The bands then resuming the inspection music, the vehicles of the parade commander and the Minister then inspect the formations of the ground column, which present arms with eyes right. As the vehicles stop upon reaching each battalion and the massed bands pause at the orders of the senior director of music, the Minister then addresses the formations assembled:
A threefold Glory! is the response of the battalions following the greeting. Following the ground column, the parade commander and Minister then inspect the battalions of the crews forming up the mobile column, and then return to the saluting base at Independence Square.
After the review finishes, the President, upon receiving the concluding report from the Defense Minister, and the parade being ordered to stand at ease, then addresses the nation. The Prayer for Ukraine is then played afterwards, after which an awards ceremony is held, wherein distinguished servicemen are honored and new colours received by military, police, civil defence and border guard units. As the linemen and markers take their places afterwards, at the same time the colour guard formed from the new colours received on this day takes its position in the line behind the tri-service colour guard in readiness for the march past. After the colour guard is formed, the parade commander then orders the parade to commence the march past in review in the following manner:
As the parade forms up, as the PC shouts the Ceremonial march past order, the parade's armed units execute high port arms and all the unit color guards execute slope arms and then all the contingents advance in review order at this point and halt without a word of command in the middle of the street turning about. After the final command, the Corps of Drums of the Ivan Bohun Military High School beats a cadence to begin the march past segment, preceded by the parade commander's vehicle and followed by the tri-service colour guard, historical colours and the massed colour guard unit. As the massed bands start playing the Corps of Drums stop playing by the signal of the Corps Drum Major and swings its drumsticks while on the eyes right.

Order of the parade in order of inspection by the Minister of Defense

Military bands in attendance

YearCountryUnit
2016
2017
2018		 Lithuania
Poland
Ukraine		Lithuanian–Polish–Ukrainian Brigade
2017
2018		 United StatesOklahoma National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
2017
2018
Georgia		Honour Guard of the National Guard of Georgia
2017
2018
Latvia		Latvian National Armed Forces Staff Battalion
2017 Moldova22nd Peacekeeping Battalion
2018 MoldovaHonor Guard Company
2017 United KingdomRoyal Regiment of Scotland
2018 United KingdomParachute Regiment
2017
2018		 CanadaTroops from Operation Unifier
2018 EstoniaTraining regiment of the Estonian Defence Forces
2018 Czech RepublicHonor Guard of the Czech Armed Forces
2017
2018		 RomaniaHonor Guard of the Romanian Armed Forces

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