Turning the pages back... September 15, 1991 (09/15/96)

Turning the pages back...

September 15, 1991

On September 15, 1991, more than 50,000 citizens of newly independent Ukraine gathered at St. Sophia Square to celebrate the country's August 24, 1991, declaration of independence.

The all-national public meeting, which included a moleben celebrated by the hierarchs and priests of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox and Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Churches, began with people's deputy and presidential candidate Levko Lukianenko reading the act accepted by the Supreme Council of Ukraine on August 24.

Leading political activists, including Mykhailo Horyn, Vyacheslav Chornovil, Ivan Zayets, Oleksander Yemets, Larysa Skoryk, Stepan Khmara and Pavlo Movchan, spoke to the crowd. Representatives of the Crimean Tatars, coal miners of Ukraine, members of Soyuz Ukrainok (Ukrainian Women's Association) and other civic organizations also addressed the throngs that came to celebrate Ukraine's freedom.

During the meeting, the people approved resolutions calling for cancellation of a referendum scheduled for December 1 to confirm the proclamation of independence by the Ukrainian Parliament.

After the public meeting, the people formed columns and, led by ex-soldiers dressed in the uniforms of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Sich Riflemen, made their way from Volodymyr Street to the Khreshchatyk where they gathered at Independence Square (formerly October Revolution Square) to participate in a meeting organized by the Ukrainian Republican Party. Its chairman, Mr. Lukianenko, once again spoke to the people and stressed the need for democratic forces to consolidate in order to strengthen Ukraine's sovereignty. This meeting was addressed also by leaders of Rukh, as well as the Peasants' Democratic Party and the Prosvita Ukrainian Language Society.

Throughout the day, the sounds of Ukrainian national songs resounded through loudspeakers placed along the Khreshchatyk.

Source: The Ukrainian Weekly, "50,000 in Kyiv celebrate Ukraine's new independence," September 22, 1991 (Vol. LIX, No. 38).