Ukrainian Independence Day

 Ukrainian Freedom

Today (August 24th) is Ukrainian Independence Day (Ukrainian: День Незалежності України.)

It marks the Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991.

On December 1, 1991 the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics held an Independence Referendum where 92.3% of those with Ukrainian Nationality on their Soviet-Issued Mandatory Internal Passports voted in favor of an Independent Ukraine.

Poland and Canada were the first Countries to recognize Ukrainian Independence on December 2, 1991.

The United States recognized Ukraine’s Independence on December 25, 1991 (after the Soviet Union Collapsed.)

In 1991, for the first time ever, Ukraine became an independent Country.

 

It had been Occupied and Ruled by:

The Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia from 1199 to 1649.

The Russian Czarist Empire from 1649-1918.

The Soviet Union Occupied all of Ukraine - except the western half from 1921-1941.

Nazi Germany Occupied Ukraine from 1941-1944.

The Soviet Union Occupied Ukraine - including the western half (taken from Poland) from 1944-1991. 

The Soviet Union Occupied all of Ukraine – including Crimea (which Moscow gave to Kyiv in 1954) from 1954-1991.

The Russian Federation Invaded, Occupied and Illegally Annexed Crimea, Ukraine in March 2014. In June 2015, Putin voided the 1954 Transfer of Crimea from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR.

The Russian Federation Illegally-Occupied parts of the Donbas, Ukraine in March 2014.

The Russian Federation Invaded most of Northern, Eastern and Southern Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Ukrainian Forces defeated the Russian Military and forced them to leave Northern Ukraine and around Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine in April 2022.

The Ukrainians continue their fight to free Southern Ukraine, Eastern Ukraine and Crimea from the Russians.

Note: From 1918-1921 The Ukrainian People's Republic ruled Ukraine (except the western part.) It was the first attempt for Ukrainians to run Ukraine, but the effects of World War 1, the Collapse of the Czarist Russian Empire and the battles of the Soviet Civil War on Ukrainian Territory meant the “governing experiment” couldn’t achieve much.