Ukrainian Independence Day 2015 showed that Ukrainians love their soldiers a lot and their politicians, well, not so much at all.
Thousands turned Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk Street into a river of vyshyvanka, as people donned a bright and varied collection of traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothes.
They hugged weary soldiers and took photos with them. They gave them flowers and bottles of cold water.
But skepticism remains about Ukraine’s authorities, who still erect fences, police cordons and metal detectors to put the public — and whoever might wish them ill — at a safe distance.
To see the main street parade, people climbed to the highest places they could find — even if that was just on each other’s shoulders. They cheered their favorite volunteer battalisons. “Aidar! Aidar! Guys, I love you all,” a young woman, wearing a headdress of flowers, treating the men in uniform like rock stars.
The soldiers of Aidar, as well as other volunteer battalions and regular soldiers, sang the national anthem and everyone joined in.
For the most part, the soldiers kept the weapons at the war front.
Poroshenko touched on all the themes — war, reform, the coming fall local elections — in his talk. English-language excerpts can be found on the presidential website.
“The war continues! And we are warriors, not lazybones,” Poroshenko said. “Independence Day is almost synchronized with the Ilovaisk tragedy – the day when Russian army invaded our land. We won’t ever forget the more than 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers who died in our fight for freedom and independence. And we won’t ever forgive the aggressor.”
Kyiv pensioner Tamara Malyzheva was unimpressed.
“The warrior he is! Ha! He should have better to say the words of gratitude to the volunteer battalions. What would we do without them?” Malyzheva said.
Poroshenko said Ukraine’s fighting forces have improved and he pledged to further enhance their combat readiness. He pledged another 300 armored vehicles, 400 fighting machines, 30,000 ammunition supplies.
The soldiers responded “Oorah!”
During the parade, people greeted battalions warmly. When it all came to an end, the soldiers finally got a minute to rest out of the sun.
“We are pleased to be here! You know, people…. they are looking at us different now, proudly I guess. When you see those furtive glances, full of hope, you understand that all that was well-spent,” said Andriy Dovgan from the Aidar Battalion.
Dovgan said Ukrainian warriors were promised bonuses, but he and others don’t expect much rest soon.
“We will rest when the war will be over! When we will win it,” said Maxim Gluhenky from the Kirovograd Battalion.
The Russian-separatist forces are keeping them busy.
According to an Aug. 24 update by Andriy Lysenko, the Ukrainian military spokesman blamed the other side for 82 cease-fire violations of the Minsk agreements.
“Half of them were made from the heavy weapons, which were under banned according to the agreements,” said Lysenko on a briefing on Aug.24.
Some 40,000 armed Russian-backed separatists and some 9,000 Russian soldiers are fighting against Ukraine in eastern Ukraine, while another 50,000 Russian soldiers are deployed just over the border in Russia, according to Ukrainian government estimates.
Kyiv Post writer Veronika Melkozerova can be reached at [email protected]
