Today is the 25th anniversary of the Independence of modern day Ukraine. The “original” so-called independence of the Soviet controlled Ukrainian’s People Republic was celebrated as January 22, 1918, but when the Soviet Union broke up in the late 1900’s, the Ukraine Parliament issued a new Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991.
I was fortunate that I was visiting Ukraine in 2011 as they celebrated their 20th year of Independence from the heavy hand of the Soviet Union. I was a parade, speaker, flags, balloons, flowers, and many speakers. It was a joyous day, and I managed to celebrate it in two different cities, people gathered all over to celebrate. We saw our first celebration in Chernivtsi, and later in the day we were in Kamieniec Podolski where people were gathered in the park at night, celebrating. Check out those previous blog posts for some pictures as well.
Ukraine’s history is still being written as Russian aggression has been trying to tear her apart, but much of the world has stood strong with Ukraine. And, especially for western Ukraine, her history (and people) are tied inexorably to that of Poland, and much of western Ukraine was at one time Poland. But for today, happy independence day to the people of Ukraine.
