Ukraine Marks 30th Anniversary of Independence Day with Military Parade in Kyiv

Not without incidents.

On Tuesday, August 24, Ukraine marked the 30th anniversary of its Independence Day! The main celebration was a military parade in Kyiv.

The parade involved more than 5,000 servicemen, 100 aircraft, 400 units of weapons and equipment, as well as military personnel from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Georgia, Denmark, Estonia, Poland and other countries.

Congratulations were also extended by Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, former President Petro Poroshenko, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi and others.

Antony Blinken
US Secretary of State

Thirty years ago, the Verkhovna Rada made a bold choice in favor of a new course for Ukraine as an independent, democratic and sovereign state based on European values. We firmly believe that a democratic, prosperous and secure Ukraine serves the interests not only of the people of Ukraine, but also of the United States and the international community.

Among partner countries, Ukraine was also congratulated by Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Georgia, as well as the UN, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and others.

Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine

All of this points to one thing: we are a young country with a thousand-year history. We are building our home on the land where our ancestors lived and built. We are not guests, and we are not hangers-on. We are a young family from the famous dynasty of Kyivan Rus — Ukraine. From the lineage of founders, from the lineage of baptizers. We will never give away a single pebble of our history to anyone. We will not allow a single page of our history to be occupied, nor our writers, our scientists, our athletes, or our heroes who defeated Nazism to be annexed.

During the speech, Zelensky announced a new holiday — Day of Ukrainian Statehood, which will be celebrated on the anniversary of the baptism of Kyivan Rus, July 28. After the speech, the president signed a corresponding decree.

In Kyiv, columns of the March of Defenders also marched from Shevchenko Park to Independence Square. In Odesa, a naval parade with ships and aircraft took place.

After the official events ended, an unidentified man doused the steps of the Kyiv City State Administration with red paint. The press service reported that he also poured paint on the pedestal with the state flag and the plaque.

Elsewhere, a man “doused himself with an unknown liquid and set himself on fire,” the Kyiv police press service reported. Law enforcement officers promptly responded and, together with citizens, extinguished the flames, after which they called a medical team. The man was taken to hospital.

Google dedicated a doodle to Ukraine's Independence Day. It features a stylized image of a Cossack seagull with the Ukrainian trident on its sail.

At its August 24 session, the Verkhovna Rada supported in first reading a draft law on the large coat of arms of Ukraine. The document was backed by 257 people's deputies. As “Interfax” reports, not a single vote in support of the bill was cast by European Solidarity, OPZZh and Holos.

At around 17:10, Poroshenko was doused with green dye in central Kyiv. Ukrainska Pravda reports that the attacker has already been detained. The former president has not yet sought medical help and is currently at a police station, where the legal classification of the incident is being decided.