INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATED IN UKRAINE'S CAPITAL: Military parade highlight of eighth anniversary (08/29/99)

INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATED IN UKRAINE'S CAPITAL

Military parade highlight of eighth anniversary

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Copying a tradition of its former Soviet colonial rulers, Ukraine celebrated its eighth anniversary of independence on August 24 by rolling out its military hardware for a parade down the central avenue of the nation's capital.

For some the military parade was an empty show and a wasted expense in a country that remains economically feeble and unable to make the transition to a free market economy, but for most it was a moment to relax and enjoy, a celebration of eight years of independence and sovereignty symbolized by a military that stands loyal only to Kyiv.

This was the second year that a such an event has highlighted the Independence Day festivities, but whereas last year it featured both military and athletic themes, this year the accent was strictly on the defense forces.

On an uncharacteristically cool summer day the Khreschatyk came alive with marching bands, soldiers in military dress of various designs and colors, balloons and blue and yellow national emblems as well as tens of thousands of Kyivans and visitors from outlying regions and the abroad.

The onlookers saw the military personnel, the tanks, the missiles and the planes that make up Ukraine's defense forces, still considered among the strongest in Europe.

Soldiers and cadets representing all the military branches of Ukraine, as well as the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, marched down the nation's main artery in the characteristic stiff goose step manner still practiced in most militaries of the former Warsaw Pact nations.

They passed Kyiv's Independence Square, their heads held high, their necks stiffly arched and turned in the direction of the general reviewing stand, where Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma, Prime Minister Valerii Pustovoitenko, Minister of Defense Oleksander Kuzmuk and other government, legislative, judicial and military leaders stood overseeing the proceedings.

Then came the military hardware. First the light armored vehicles followed by the heavy artillery: T-80 main battle tanks, then the older T-72 tanks and SAU howitzers capable of lofting a shell 26 kilometers (about 18 miles). It was the first appearance by the tracked vehicles at an Independence Day event. Last year Kyiv city officials convinced the military to leave the hardware at home because they feared the tracked vehicles would destroy the street's freshly paved asphalt. This year the armored vehicle tracks were equiped with special rubber coverings.

Ukraine's considerable missile and rocket arsenal brought up the rear: anti-aircraft missile lauchers followed by S-200 and C-300 missiles and finally Zenit class rockets, all mounted on oversized diesel rigs, that along with the tanks left the Khreschatyk in a cloud of smoke.

As the large vehicles moved away from the crowd, their din was replaced by the scream of aviation flying overhead, also a first for this parade. On an azure backdrop of a cloudless summer sky MIG 29 jet fighters, SU strategic bombers and helicopter war ships delighted onlookers as they flew the path of the parade, highlighted by the Sokol Naval Flying Team, which performed an aerial manuever in its MIG-29s to end the display.

The 45 minute show of Ukraine's military might, which featured 128 pieces of land-based hardware, 40 airborne vehicles and more than three thousand military personnel began with a greeting by Defense Minister Kuzmuk.

After reviewing cadets of the various military academies and lyseums associated with Ukraine's armed forces from an old Chaika limousine - similar to those in which Soviet leaders traveled - the defense minister mounted the reviewing stand and gave a short speech praising its improving military readiness and its accomplishments in peacekeeping operations currently under way in Kosovo and Bosnia, as well as the considerable work it did in the Transcarpathia region of Ukraine during and after last year's disastrous flooding.

Not everybody was satisfied with the celebration, such as a Red Army veteran of World War II who walked Khreschatyk just after the parade's completion dressed in a military uniform of sorts, and bedecked with rows of medals. Asked by a reporter his impression of the military display, he somewhat agitatedly explained that he found no pleasure in the event, that he could not be certain where he would find his next meal and that life had worsened since independence, which he called "perestroika." He also offered that he held no particular affinity for the new "system."

Asked for his name, he gestured dismissingly with his hand and turned away.

Seven-year-old Oleksander Volynia, perhaps because youth is on his side, was more upbeat about the parade and the celebration of Ukraine's eighth birthday.

His reply was simple and straight forward: "Hoorah Ukraina!"

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