More than four years after the Kremlin launched its war on Ukraine in the Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko sent a defiant message to Moscow as his country’s rebuilt military paraded through Kyiv on Aug. 24, Ukrainian Independence Day.
Speaking just before thousands of troops and hundreds of weapons paraded along Khreshchatyk Street, Poroshenko said he would seek to include Ukraine’s ambitions to join the European Union and NATO in the country’s constitution.
“Russia was holding us back from our rapprochement with Europe,” Poroshenko said, reading his speech from two prompters on either side of him. “But we survived (the Russian aggression) and have grown muscles. We have laid the foundation for the movement ahead.”
“There have been many years of tragic dependence on the (Russian) empire,” he went on. “But now our generation is going to break this vicious circle… this connection with Russia. We are moving in our own direction. And the nation is now united by patriotism.”
Poroshenko said Ukraine’s visa-free regime with the Schengen Area; energy independence from Russia; and the modernization of the army were some of the country’s primary victories.
He said his goal now as president is to unite two Orthodox churches in Ukraine (the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church) and get rid of a third – the Moscow-backed Patriarchate in Ukraine, which “day and night prays for the Russian army,” he said.
Poroshenko made no mention of the continued high level of corruption in the country – one of the reasons for some of Ukraine’s economic woes.
He ended his speech with a prayer for those Ukrainians that have fallen in the war.
“We will never forget, never forgive (Russia),” he said.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (C) watches as 24 parade sections march along Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv on Aug. 24. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
Parade
Thousands of Ukrainians – most in national dress – started gathering in Kyiv’s downtown early in the morning to see the parade marking Ukraine’s 27th year of independence. A total of 4,500 troops and 250 military vehicles then paraded before them along Khreshchatyk Street to their cheers.
The event started at 10 a.m., with the national anthem being sung by a military choir. After that, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak greeted the various groups of soldiers lined up along the central Khreshchatyk Street in the brilliant sunshine, passing them while standing in an open-topped army car.
“Glory to Ukraine!” Poltorak shouted repeatedly for the next 15 minutes as he passed each military unit.
“Glory to the heroes!” the soldiers replied. This greeting was recently adopted by the Ukrainian military and was used officially for the first time at an event of this type.
When the defense minister returned to Independence Square, Poroshenko gave his speech, in which he said Russia was “the main cause of the economic and political crisis in Ukraine.”
After delivering his speech, Poroshenko awarded some soldiers with the title of Hero of Ukraine, some of them posthumously, and the military parade began. This year’s parade was the largest since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in the Donbas in 2014.
Twenty-four parade sections marched along Khreshchatyk Street, representing combat units of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Service, and the SBU security service, as well as other Ukrainian security agencies. Soldiers from 18 countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom also took part in the parade.
The parade featured 250 units of military hardware, including some recently introduced weapons. Most, such as the missile systems, have not been used in the war in eastern Ukraine, but these were the main attraction for the crowd, with many people getting out their smartphones to take pictures and videos.
The weapons included self-propelled guns, rocket launchers, antiaircraft guns, battle tanks, heavy artillery pieces, and the missiles on their launchers which, passing the crowd, left clouds of exhaust fumes.
Next, military aircraft, including helicopters, jet fighters, and a transport plane, roared over the center of the capital. Three jets released a salvo of rockets high above the city as a finale.
The Defense Ministry said that it “has not counted how much it spent on the parade.”
In 2014, the ministry spent Hr 80 million on the Independence Day military parade, which featured only 50 units of military hardware. After that year, the authorities stopped announcing to the public the sum spent on such events.
A solider salutes while passing by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak as he takes part in the military parade in Kyiv on Aug. 24, marking Ukraine’s 27th Independence Day. (Oleg Petrasiuk)
