Defenders Day is a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history ...

Day of Defenders and Defendresses of Ukraine celebrated today

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...

(14 October 2021) in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

celebrated annually on 14 October. The holiday honors veterans and fallen members of the

Ukrainian armed forces , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly know ...

. Its first celebration was in 2015."Ukraine honours servicemen during celebrations of first-ever Defenders' Day"

Ukraine Today Ukraine Today was a Ukraine-based private English language satellite television channel, then webcasting service. The channel, which was owned by the Ukrainian 1+1 group and headquartered in Kyiv, presented round-the-clock news bulletins aimed ...

(14 October 2015)

History

On 14 October 2014, a decree by

Ukrainian President The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

decreed the new holiday "Defender of Ukraine Day" ( uk, День захи́сника́ Украї́ни, translit=Den zakhysnyka Ukrainy) due to the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

and decommunization in Ukraine.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) This decree was approved by the

Ukrainian parliament The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...

on 5 March 2015.New Oct. 14 state holiday has Orthodox, Cossack roots

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(8 October 2015) The holiday replaced the former 23 February's holiday called " Defender of the Fatherland Day", which had its origin in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

.Таємниця 23 лютого. Українцям є що святкувати "'Mystery of February 23. Ukrainians have something to celebrate"
''

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...

'' (23 February 2013) As the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, 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 Independence Day of Ukraine ( uk, День Незалежності України) is the main state holiday in modern Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of 1991. History When Ukraine was stil ...

) President Poroshenko had proclaimed that Ukraine should not celebrate the holidays of the "military-historical calendar of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

" but "We will honor the defenders of our homeland, not someone else's".Poroshenko: Ukraine will never celebrate February 23
, TVi (24 August 2014)English-language translation of Poroshenko's Independence Day remarks in Kyiv

(24 August 2014) On 14 July 2021, the parliament officially altered the name to ( uk, День захи́сникі́в і захи́сни́ць Украї́ни, translit=Den zakhysnykiv i zakhysnyts Ukrainy), explicitly to include the female defenders of Ukraine (in

Ukrainian grammar The grammar of Ukrainian ( Ukrainian: Граматика української мови) describes its phonological, morphological, and syntactic rules. Ukrainian has seven cases and two numbers for its nominal declension and two aspects, three te ...

захисників is the masculine form of the word defender and захисниць the

feminine form In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all noun ...

14 October in Ukrainian history

The chairman of the

Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory ( uk, Український Інститут Національної Пам’яті, UINM), also translated as the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, is the central executive body operating un ...

, Volodymyr Viatrovych, motivated the choice of the date for 14 October on the Ukrainian historical tradition of honouring the

Ukrainian army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They w ...

on the day of the

Intercession of the Theotokos The Intercession of the Theotokos, or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a Christian feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches on October 1 (Julian calendar: ...

. This holiday has been celebrated by

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

since the 12th century. The holiday was especially popular among

Ukrainian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks, Zaporozhian Cossack Army, Zaporozhian Host, (, or uk, Військо Запорізьке, translit=Viisko Zaporizke, translit-std=ungegn, label=none) or simply Zaporozhians ( uk, Запорожці, translit=Zaporoz ...

, who celebrated it since at least the 17th century as they believed the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations ar ...

(also known as "Theotokos") to be their patroness. The fourteenth of October is also the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks. During the

Ukrainian War of Independence The Ukrainian War of Independence was a series of conflicts involving many adversaries that lasted from 1917 to 1921 and resulted in the establishment and development of a Ukrainian republic, most of which was later absorbed into the Soviet U ...

(1917–1920) the military symbolism of the holiday was adopted by the soldiers of the

Ukrainian People's Army The Ukrainian People's Army ( uk, Армія Української Народної Республіки), also known as the Ukrainian National Army (UNA) or as a derogatory term of Russian and Soviet historiography Petliurovtsy ( uk, Пет� ...

. In an effort to adopt some Cossack traditions, the

Ukrainian Insurgent Army The Ukrainian Insurgent Army ( uk, Українська повстанська армія, УПА, translit=Ukrayins'ka povstans'ka armiia, abbreviated UPA) was a Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary and later partisan formation. During World ...

(1942–1956) chose the day of the Intercession of the Theotokos to be the official day of their establishment.

References

{{Public holidays in Ukraine Public holidays in Ukraine Ukrainian culture Society of Ukraine 2014 establishments in Ukraine October observances Autumn events in Ukraine Recurring events established in 2014

History

14 October in Ukrainian history

See also

References