On the eve of 26th anniversary of independence, Ukraine celebrates its National Flag Day on Aug. 23.
On this day back in 1991, the lawmakers of the recently emerged Verkhovna Rada brought the yellow-and-blue banner into the parliament session hall in Kyiv for the very first time in Ukraine’s history. Today the historic bicolor resides in the Verkhovna Rada museum.
The symbolic step was made as the country, yet officially a republic within the agonizing USSR, was preparing to proclaim its complete independence on the very next day, following a failed pro-Soviet coup attempt in Moscow on Aug. 18-21.
26 years on, Ukrainians render homage to their main national character.
A national flag was ceremonially raised over the Sofiivska Square in central Kyiv with the participation of the Ukraine’s president Petro Poroshenko and other country’s top officials. Similar solemnities were being held in town and cities throughout the country, including the action areas of Donbas frontline, Poroshenko said while delivering a speech at the gates of the historical Saint Sophia Cathedral.
Later, the leader attended the “Might of the Undefeated” arms trade in the Kreshatyk street, at which as many as 70 weapon units were shown off in celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day.
“A part of the weapons and vehicles presented at this arms fair will be got off to the contact lines as soon as the next week,” Poroshenko claimed at the event. “In particular, those are the tanks, self-propelled artillery pieces, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft units. The rest of the vehicles will be assigned to reserve or will be used at military training facilities, while others will finish undergoing tests.”
The “Might of the Undefeated” arms fair in the Kreshatyk street between the Maidan Nezaleshnosti and Evropeiska squares will be open to the general public until Aug. 27.
