As Ukraine celebrates its Independence Day – or more precisely the 29th anniversary of the re-establishment of its independence – it’s appropriate to take some time to assess the current situation in our ancestral homeland.
In the days leading up to the national holiday, there were several notable developments. The Kyiv City Administration raised the country’s largest blue-and-yellow national flag at a new memorial in the city; the occasion was Ukrainian National Flag Day, which is celebrated on August 23. Also before Ukraine’s Independence Day, a human chain of solidarity with protesters in Belarus stretched from the Embassy of Belarus to Independence Square (the Maidan). It was yet another visible sign of the Ukrainian people’s support for their Belarusian neighbors and their belief in a better future.
The lead-in to Ukraine’s Independence Day was marred, however, by vandalism at the country’s National Museum of the Holodomor Genocide, where the powerfully evocative statue “Bitter Memory of Childhood” was desecrated, having been removed from its pedestal in the memorial complex. The silence of the Zelenskyy administration about this brazen act that dishonors the Ukrainian nation’s memory was disturbing, to say the least. We add our voice to those that have called for a thorough investigation.
Last year, the country’s new president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, replaced the annual military parade staged on Independence Day with a March of Dignity and an entertainment show. In response, Ukrainian war veterans organized their own event, called the March of Defenders of Ukraine. This year’s format was similar. In fact, the unofficial March of Defenders attracted more participants than in the prior year and the message was clear: Independence is no joking matter (“Z nezalezhnistiu ne zhartuyut”). Some 20,000 people reportedly participated in the march. Among them were veterans, military personnel, families of servicemen and women, relatives of the Heavenly Hundred and prisoners of war, and individuals who came to demonstrate their unwavering support for those who defend Ukraine’s freedom.
As for this year’s entertainment show: it was criticized by many for lacking dignity befitting the occasion – the most important national holiday of Ukraine (some performers appeared in outfits suitable only for a low-class variety show); for allowing performances in the Russian language – the language of the aggressor, as critics pointed out; and for the choice of performers, some of whose positions on Russia’s six-year-plus war against Ukraine are questionable. We can only hope this kind of showbiz is not repeated on other momentous occasions.
In the period since last year’s celebration of Ukraine’s independence, Russia has continued its war on Ukraine’s east and it continues to occupy Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. Ukraine’s death toll in the war is now approaching 14,000. Russia still holds over 100 Ukrainian citizens as political prisoners, and more than 200 others are prisoners of war or hostages in the Russian-controlled part of the Donbas – that’s despite the fact that three prisoner swaps have taken place under the Zelenskyy presidency.
It must be noted that, yes, right now there is a ceasefire in Ukraine’s east that seems to be working. Indeed, President Zelenskyy began his Independence Day address to the nation by stating that August 24 was the 29th day in a row that Ukraine had no combat losses in the Donbas. Certainly everyone hopes that, this time, the ceasefire will hold. We also share the president’s hope that the Donbas and Crimea will be returned to Ukraine and that lasting peace is possible.
Though Ukraine still faces many challenges, including the global coronavirus pandemic, there is much to celebrate as Ukraine enters its 30th year of independence. First and foremost, there is the simple fact our beloved Ukraine exists as an independent state and continues to move toward integration with Europe, where it rightly belongs. In speaking out against the falsified results of the Belarusian presidential election, Ukraine and its people have demonstrated yet again that they stand with the West, not with Russia and others of its ilk. Ukraine has once again held free and fair national elections, and its military has succeeded in keeping the invader at bay.
International support for Ukraine is strong. For example, Ukraine received congratulations on the 29th anniversary of its independence proclamation from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Lithuania, Israel, Italy, the United Kingdom and the Vatican. And that’s just a partial list. The United States, Canada and others stand with Ukraine in its struggle against invading forces, and they have repeatedly reaffirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Moreover, there is much potential in the recently established political platform called the Lublin Triangle that comprises Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.
We look forward to further progress on all fronts – political, economic, judicial, social – as Ukraine looks ahead to the 30th anniversary of its reappearance on the world map as an independent state.
Slava Ukraini!