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On January 22, Ukraine celebrates Unity Day

On January 22nd, my country celebrates the Day of Unity of Ukraine. This is a national holiday. UNITY means indivisibility. The East and the West differ significantly because they were parts of different states for a long time: the West was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, earlier the Lithuanian Principality, and also the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile, the East of Ukraine and the Center were part of the Russian Empire and were heavily influenced by the Soviet Union. Despite this, all people across Ukraine speak the same language, share similar traditions, and are part of one state.

On January 22nd, 1918, the Universal was signed, declaring the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR). Ukraine became an independent state. Within a year, on January 22nd, 1919, at Sofia Square in Kyiv, the Act of Unity was proclaimed. It was a solemn declaration of the unification of the UNR and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) into a united Ukraine. It was a significant event. Thousands of people went outside. The trident was chosen as the official symbol of the new state.

The political situation at that time was complicated. Western Ukrainian lands were under the influence of Poland, while the Bolsheviks claimed the eastern and central regions. This led to Ukraine being unified for only a very short time.

Ukraine truly restored its unity in the early 1990s – on August 24th, 1991.

And a year earlier, on January 22nd, 1990, more than a million people joined hands and formed a living chain between Kyiv and Lviv. This was their way of demonstrating to all Ukrainians and the world that Ukraine is united and whole.

This is our important patriotic holiday – the Day of Unity of Ukraine.