Liberation Day (Ukraine)
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name=Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders
День визволення України від фашистських загарбників
|type=national
|image=File:Military Parade in Kiev, 2004.jpg
|imagesize=250px
|caption=A Liberation Day parade in 2004.
|official_name=Day of the Liberation of Ukraine from fascist invaders
|observedby={{flag|Ukraine}}
|significance=Liberation from Nazi Germany
|scheduling=same day each year
|date=October 28
|relatedto=World War II
}}
The Liberation Day of Ukraine ({{langx|uk|День визволення України}}), officially the Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders ({{langx|uk|День визволення України від фашистських загарбників}}), is a holiday celebrated annually on October 28 in Ukraine. It commemorates the Liberation of Ukraine from Nazi Germany on 28 October 1944.[https://www.unian.info/m/society/10315500-ukraine-marks-74th-anniversary-of-liberation-from-german-nazi-troops.html Ukraine marks 74th anniversary of liberation from German Nazi troops], UNIAN (28 October 2018)
The first settlements in Eastern Ukraine were liberated by the Red Army in December 1942. Major battles for the liberation of the Ukrainian SSR lasted from January 1943 to the autumn of 1944. At this time, half of Ukraine was in the hands of the Red Army.{{cite web |url=http://calendr.net/holiday/1674 |title=Day of liberation of Ukraine from fascist invaders |website=calendr.net |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161637/http://calendr.net/holiday/1674 |archive-date=2018-02-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukrinform.net/amp/rubric-society/1904934-ukraine-marks-liberation-from-fascist-invaders.html|title = Ukraine marks liberation from fascist invaders|website=www.ukrinform.net}} On August 23, 1943, the city of Kharkiv was liberated. On October 27, 1944, Uzhhorod was retaken from the Germans, and Soviet troops arrived at what would be the modern western border of Ukraine.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stalkerzone.org/28-10-1944-first-liberation-ukraine-fascism-second-liberation-inevitable/|title = 28.10.1944 - First Liberation of Ukraine from Fascism, Second Liberation is Inevitable • Сталкер Zone|date = 28 October 2016}} On October 28, 1944, the last territory of current Ukraine (near Uzhhorod, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary[https://books.google.com/books?id=WIUE8Y9-wYAC&dq=hungary+uzhgorod&pg=PA245 'The Great Experiment: The Story of Ancient Empires, Modern States, and the Quest for a Global Nation'] by Strobe Talbott, 2008 (page 243)) was cleared of German troops; this is annually celebrated in Ukraine (on 28 October) as the "anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis".[https://www.unian.info/politics/2212851-poroshenko-honors-deceased-on-73rd-anniversary-of-ukraines-liberation-from-nazis.html Poroshenko honors deceased on 73rd anniversary of Ukraine's liberation from Nazis], UNIAN (28 October 2017)
[https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/2333355-ukraine-marks-73rd-anniversary-of-liberation-from-nazi-invaders.html Ukraine marks 73rd anniversary of liberation from Nazi invaders], Ukrinform (28 October 2017){{Cite web |url=https://gur.mil.gov.ua/en/content/liberation-from-nazi-occupation.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2020-08-27 |archive-date=2019-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810012154/http://gur.mil.gov.ua/en/content/liberation-from-nazi-occupation.html |url-status=dead }}
The holiday
2004 marked the first time the anniversary was celebrated since independence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1055535.html|title=Analysis: Putin And The Liberation Of Ukraine From Nazism|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}} A large military parade held on Maidan Nezalezhnosti with the participation of President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin.{{Cite web|url=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/32032|title=Celebrations are taking place in Kyiv to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from Nazi occupation|last=|first=|date=|website=en.kremlin.ru|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=}} The Victory Banner was brought to Kyiv from Moscow to take part in the parade on Khreshchatyk.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} The idea of making the date a national holiday was expressed by the then Minister of Economy of Ukraine Sergey Tigipko on October 15, 2009. Five days later, President Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree establishing the holiday. A couple days later, planned celebrations took place in accordance with a parliamentary decree signed in January.{{Cite web|url=https://iportal.rada.gov.ua/en/news/page/news/News/News%202/17864.html|title = News 2 - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the Resolution "On Celebration of the 65th Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Occupants" - Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine}}
On Liberation Day, the country honors of veterans and war dead, often laying wreaths and flowers at memorials. There are often exhibitions and displays of military equipment and military parades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Military tattoos and local parades of Military bands take place through the main streets of local cities. Folk festivals and holiday concerts also take place.{{Cite web|url=https://old.kyivcity.gov.ua/news/1511.html|title=Новини - Київська міська державна адміністрація|website=old.kyivcity.gov.ua}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-society/1413826-v_den_viboriv_ukraiina_svyatkue__richnitsyu_vizvolennya_vid_fashistiv_1766530.html|title=В день виборів Україна святкує річницю визволення від фашистів|website=www.ukrinform.ua}}
Renaming proposal
In 2019, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, then led by Volodymyr Viatrovych, proposed renaming the Liberation Day into the "Day of Expulsion of the Nazi occupiers", noting that after 28 October 1944 Ukraine did not become an independent nation, but returned under the control of the Soviet Union. However, such proposal was not adopted.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-02 |title=28 жовтня — День вигнання нацистських окупантів, а не визволення України — Український інститут національної пам'яті |url=http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/28-zhovtnya-den-vignannya-natsistskikh-okupantiv-ne-vizvolennya-ukraini-ukrainskii-institut-nat |access-date= |website=Український Інститут Національної Пам’яті|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602124709/http://www.memory.gov.ua/news/28-zhovtnya-den-vignannya-natsistskikh-okupantiv-ne-vizvolennya-ukraini-ukrainskii-institut-nat |archive-date=2019-06-02 }}
Gallery
File:60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Ukraine (2).jpg|Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2004 celebration.
File:60th Anniversary of the Liberation of Ukraine (3).jpg|President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Ivan Gerasimov, Kuchma and Putin during the 2004 celebration.
File:President Poroshenko honored the deceased on occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis.jpg|President Petro Poroshenko during a 2017 celebration ceremony.
See also
References
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