State holiday in Ukraine
Defenders Day
|
---|
Official name
| День захисник?в та захисниць Укра?ни
[1]
|
---|
Observed by
| Ukrainians
|
---|
Significance
|
|
---|
Celebrations
| Concerts, expos, military parades, marches and festivals
[3]
[4]
[5]
|
---|
Date
| 1 October
|
---|
Next time
| 1 October 2024
(
2024-10
)
|
---|
Frequency
| Annual
|
---|
First time
| 2015
|
---|
Defenders Day
[6]
is a
public holiday
[7]
in
Ukraine
celebrated annually on 1 October.
[8]
The holiday honors veterans and fallen members of the
Ukrainian armed forces
.
[9]
[10]
Its first celebration was in 2015.
[8]
[11]
[12]
History
[
edit
]
On 14 October 2014, a decree by
Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko
decreed the new holiday "Defender of Ukraine Day" (
Ukrainian
:
День захи?сника? Укра??ни
,
romanized
:
Den zakhysnyka Ukrainy
) due to the
Russo-Ukrainian War
and
decommunization in Ukraine
.
[13]
[7]
This decree was approved by the
Ukrainian parliament
(the Verkhovna Rada) on 5 March 2015.
[14]
The holiday replaced the former 23 February's holiday called "
Defender of the Fatherland Day
", which had its origin in the
Soviet Union
.
[15]
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.
[16]
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".
[17]
According to the
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology
(KIIS) in 2017 only 10% of the Ukrainian population celebrated the holiday.
[18]
In 2021 KIIS opinion polls showed that the holiday was popular among 29% of respondents.
[18]
On 14 July 2021 parliament officially altered the name to (
Ukrainian
:
День захи?сник??в ? захи?сни?ць Укра??ни
,
romanized
:
Den zakhysnykiv i zakhysnyts Ukrainy
), explicitly to
include
the female defenders of Ukraine (in
Ukrainian grammar
захисник?в is the
masculine form
of the word defender and захисниць the
feminine form
).
[7]
[1]
[19]
[20]
After the Bishops' Council was held on May 24, 2023, it became known that the
Orthodox Church of Ukraine
would ask the authorities to shift the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, as well as the
Day of Ukrainian Statehood
, due to a
calendar reform
[
uk
]
, because the
Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary
in the OCU and
UGCC
will be celebrated on
October 1
from 2023.
[21]
On 28 June 2023 President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law that moves the Day of Defenders of Ukraine from October 14 to October 1.
[22]
[23]
Parliament approved this law on 14 July 2023 by 241 deputies supported the law.
[8]
On July 28 2023, Zelenskyy signed the draft law and Presidential Decree No. 455/2023 "On Amendments to Certain Decrees of the President of Ukraine", so the date of the holiday was finally shifted.
[24]
The
Russian invasion of Ukraine
that started on 24 February 2022 led to a reappraisal of the popularity of Defenders Day in Ukraine.
[18]
A March 2024 study by KIIS found that the popularity of
Independence Day of Ukraine
and Defenders Day had both almost more than doubled (from 37% to 64% and from 29% to 58%).
[18]
Intercession of the Theotokos in Ukrainian history
[
edit
]
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
.
[14]
[1]
This holiday has been celebrated by
Ukrainians
since the 12th century.
[14]
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.
[14]
The fourteenth of October is also the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks.
[13]
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
.
[7]
[1]
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.
[7]
[14]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
(in Ukrainian)
Defender's Day was renamed Defenders and Defenders' Day
,
BBC Ukrainian
(14 July 2021)
- ^
Ukraine celebrating Defender Day (Video)
,
UNIAN
(14 October 2018)
"Методичн? матер?али Укра?нського ?нституту нац?онально? пам'ят? щодо в?дзначення 14 жовтня Дня захисника Укра?ни | Оф?ц?йний веб-сайт У?НП"
.
www.memory.gov.ua
(in Ukrainian).
Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance
. Retrieved
14 October
2018
.
- ^
Ukraine celebrates Defender Day
,
UNIAN
(14 October 2016)
- ^
(in Ukrainian)
For the first time in 30 years, a military parade took place in Luhansk region
,
Ukrayinska Pravda
(14 October 2021)
- ^
(in Ukrainian)
A Defenders Day march begins in the center of Kyiv
,
Ukrayinska Pravda
(14 October 2021)
- ^
Nuzhnenko, Serhiy (15 October 2021).
"Ukrainians March In Honor Of Armed Forces On Defenders Day"
.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
. Retrieved
15 May
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Day of Defenders and Defendresses of Ukraine celebrated today
,
Ukrinform
(14 October 2021)
- ^
a
b
c
"Parliament changes dates of Christmas, Statehood Day, Day of Defenders"
.
Ukrinform
. 14 July 2023
. Retrieved
14 July
2023
.
- ^
"October 14 declared 'Defenders of Ukraine Day' after lawmakers back Poroshenko's proposal"
.
Ukraine Today
. 5 March 2015
. Retrieved
10 October
2015
.
- ^
"President proclaimed October 14 the Day of Defender of Ukraine"
. 14 October 2014
. Retrieved
10 October
2015
.
- ^
Ukraine marks first 'Defenders Day' with harsh words for Putin
,
Fox News Channel
(14 October 2015)
- ^
"Ukraine honours servicemen during celebrations of first-ever Defenders' Day"
,
Ukraine Today
(14 October 2015)
- ^
a
b
Ukraine's Defenders Day to be observed on October 14, February 23 celebration canceled
,
Interfax-Ukraine
(14 October 2014)
President proclaimed October 14 the Day of Defender of Ukraine
,
president.gov.ua
(14 October 2014)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
New Oct. 14 state holiday has Orthodox, Cossack roots
,
Kyiv Post
(8 October 2015)
- ^
(in Ukrainian)
Та?мниця 23 лютого. Укра?нцям ? що святкувати "'Mystery of February 23. Ukrainians have something to celebrate"
,
Ukrayinska Pravda
(23 February 2013)
- ^
A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples
by
Paul Robert Magocsi
,
University of Toronto Press
, 2010,
ISBN
1442610212
(page 563/564 & 722/723)
- ^
(in Ukrainian)
Poroshenko: Ukraine will never celebrate February 23
Archived
25 August 2014 at the
Wayback Machine
,
TVi
(24 August 2014)
English-language translation of Poroshenko's Independence Day remarks in Kyiv
,
Kyiv Post
(24 August 2014)
- ^
a
b
c
d
Volodymyr Paniotto (7 March 2024).
"PRESS RELEASES AND REPORTS - ATTITUDE OF UKRAINIANS TO PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND IN PARTICULAR TO MARCH 8"
.
Kyiv International Institute of Sociology
. Retrieved
8 March
2024
.
- ^
Президент Укра?ни Володимир Зеленськи. Оф?ц?йне ?нтернет-представництво.
"Президент п?дписав закон про День захисник?в ? захисниць Укра?ни"
.
president.gov.ua
(in Ukrainian).
- ^
"День захисника Укра?ни ? Рада перейменувала свято"
. 14 July 2021. Archived from
the original
on 14 July 2021
. Retrieved
3 July
2023
.
- ^
"ПЦУ проситиме перенести День захисник?в ? захисниць на 1 жовтня"
.
Укра?нська правда
(in Ukrainian)
. Retrieved
29 June
2023
.
- ^
"Zelensky Introduces Proposed Draft Law to Change Holiday Dates"
.
Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost
. Retrieved
29 June
2023
.
- ^
"Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a law on changing holiday dates"
.
babel.ua
. 28 June 2023
. Retrieved
29 June
2023
.
- ^
Свобода, Рад?о (28 July 2023).
"Зеленський затвердив перенесення святкування Р?здва на 25 грудня"
.
Рад?о Свобода
(in Ukrainian)
. Retrieved
29 July
2023
.