The three-day Independence Day weekend festivities kicks off on Aug. 24.
There will be no traditional military parade in Kyiv’s center. President Volodymyr Zelensky decided that the Hr 300 million ($11.8 million) for the event should be given to Ukraine’s soldiers as bonuses.
Instead, a ceremony will take place to commemorate Ukrainian soldiers and EuroMaidan Revolution protesters killed by the security forces of Ukraine’s fugitive former President Viktor Yanukovych.
It will be held at the monument to the Heavenly Hundred in Kyiv at 9:30 a. m.
The ceremony will start with a moment of silence, followed by 100 tolls of a bell to honor the heroes. There will also be a flower-laying ceremony and the military choir will perform the National Anthem of Ukraine.
According to the presidential website, an award ceremony for Ukrainians who have achieved success in different fields will take place after the commemoration. It will start at 9:50 a. m.
There will also be an entertainment program — music shows and dancing flash mobs will perform at Kyiv’s central Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) and Khreshchatyk Street afterward.
Apart from that, there will be a March of the Defenders of Ukraine, in which Ukrainian war veterans, soldiers and volunteers will take part.
It will start at 11 a. m. at Taras Shevchenko Park in Kyiv. The participants will march to St. Michael’s Cathedral located on 8 Trokhsviatytelska St., passing Bessarabska Square, Khreshchatyk Street and Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
Commemoration Ceremony.
2 Heroiv Nebesnoi Sotni Lane, Aug. 24 at 9:30 a. m.
March of the Defenders.
Taras Shevchenko Park. Aug. 24 at 11 a. m.
Ukrainian soldiers attend the celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day in Kyiv on Aug. 24, 2018. (Volodymyr Petrov)
