Independence Day of Ukraine

On August 24, Ukraine will celebrate the biggest national holiday - the 30th anniversary of independence. It was established in honour of an exceptional historical event - the adoption in 1991 by the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR by an absolute majority of votes of the Act of Independence of Ukraine. This document crowned the millennial aspirations of the Ukrainian people to have their own sovereign state and to determine their own destiny.

For Ukrainians, freedom and dignity have always been fundamental values. They encouraged the struggle for independence. At the beginning of the twentieth century, during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, our people were able to revive statehood, and on August 24, 1991, by the Act of Independence of Ukraine, it was restored. An important step towards the return of historical justice was the adoption on July 16, 1990, of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine. At that time, the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR supported the desire of the people to eliminate political and economic dependence on the Moscow centre and to build an independent state, to revive the national culture and historical memory.

The uprising of sovereign Ukraine played a decisive role in the collapse of the USSR, the final destruction of the communist totalitarian system. This was the beginning of a new stage in the development of a democratic modern Ukrainian state. Today, Ukraine's independence is a guarantee of the free development of the states and peoples of Europe and a major obstacle to Russian imperialism, which is trying to absorb Ukraine politically, economically and spiritually. Today, in the face of Russian aggression, we continue to fight for our own freedom and independence. So there is a lot of work ahead. The Ukrainian community must unite efforts to further build the state, develop civil society and consolidate the nation, and defend the territorial integrity of the state.

The slogan of this year's celebration of the anniversary of Ukraine's independence: "You are my only one." The visual symbol of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence is a flower in national colours, developed by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.