Defenders Day (Ukraine)

Defenders Day
Defender of Ukraine Day 2017 03.jpg
Defender of Ukraine Day 2017 01.jpg
Official nameДень захисників та захисниць України
Significance
CelebrationsConcerts, expos, military parades, marches and festivals
Date14 October
Next time14 October 2022 (2022-10-14)
FrequencyAnnual

Defenders Day is a public holiday in Ukraine celebrated annually on 14 October. Its first celebration was in 2015.

History

On 14 October 2014, a decree by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko decreed the new holiday "Defender of Ukraine Day" (Ukrainian: День захи́сника́ Украї́ни, romanizedDen zakhysnyka Ukrainy) due to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine (2014–present) and decommunization in Ukraine. This decree was approved by the Ukrainian parliament on 5 March 2015. The holiday replaced the former 23 February's holiday called "Defender of the Fatherland Day", which had its origin in the Soviet Union. As the Ukrainian SSR, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union from 1922 until Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union on 24 August 1991. On 24 August 2014 (Independence Day of Ukraine) President Poroshenko had proclaimed that Ukraine should not celebrate the holidays of the "military-historical calendar of Russia" but "We will honor the defenders of our homeland, not someone else's".

On 14 July 2021, the parliament officially altered the name to (Ukrainian: День захи́сникі́в і захи́сни́ць Украї́ни, romanizedDen zakhysnykiv i zakhysnyts Ukrainy), explicitly to include the female defenders of Ukraine (in Ukrainian grammar захисників is the masculine form of the word defender and захисниць the feminine form).

14 October in Ukrainian history

The chairman of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Volodymyr Viatrovych, motivated the choice of the date for 14 October on the Ukrainian historical tradition of honouring the Ukrainian army on the day of the Intercession of the Theotokos. This holiday has been celebrated by Ukrainians since the 12th century. The holiday was especially popular among Ukrainian Cossacks, who celebrated it since at least the 17th century as they believed the Mother of God (also known as "Theotokos") to be their patroness. Fourteen October is also the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks.

During the Ukrainian War of Independence (1917–1920) the military symbolism of the holiday was adopted by the soldiers of the Ukrainian People's Army.

In an effort to adopt some Cossack traditions, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1942–1956) chose the day of the Intercession of the Theotokos to be the official day of their establishment.

See also


This page was last updated at 2022-09-12 22:13 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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