Together with the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lutsk City Council, Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University organised a solemn celebration of the Day of Ukrainian Statehood in Lutsk. In Ukraine, such holiday is celebrated for the first time under the initiative of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
The celebrations, taking place in Lutsk on the Teatralnyi Maidan, were attended by Natalia Blagovirna, Vice-Rector for Educational Work of the University, Yurii Hromyk, Vice-Rector for Educational Work and Recruitment, Director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of Continuing Education of the University Oleh Dykyi, Head of the Department of World History Liudmyla Strilchuk, Professor of the Department of History of Ukraine and Archeology Oksana Kalishchuk, and students’ authority representatives. At the beginning of the celebration, the audience paid tribute with a moment of silence to the defenders who perished for the independence of Ukraine and civilians victims of the war. After that, the Kniahynynok School of Arts pupils brass band performed the melody of the beloved song “Oh, in the meadow a red viburnum”.
During the event, the audience was addressed by the officials, the youths representatives, and also the Head of the Department of World History Liudmyla Strilchuk.
In her speech, the professor outlined the main milestones in the history of Ukraine and noted that the statehood holiday coincides with two significant dates in the Ukrainian history: the Day of Commemoration of Prince Volodymyr the Great and the Baptism of Kyivan Rus.
“July 28 seems to have been chosen very correctly for the celebration of the Statehood Day, because Prince Volodymyr the Great is one of the most significant figures of the Ukrainian statehood, and the Baptism of Kyivan Rus also conveys a symbolic meaning, as a model for other European states since the 5th century. History is revolving. Just as the Galicia-Volhynia Principality was a shield for Europe against the Mongol invasion, Ukraine is now a shield for the European states against the russian invasion. However, in the most difficult times, Ukrainians did not lose their national identity and faith in God. No matter what the current russian dictator may think of himself and how much he is trying on the mantle of a historian, he will fail to impose his invented principles of not existing Ukrainian nation. We have iron arguments: our thousand-year-old history, culture and values, now being defended by our soldiers at the front,” Liudmyla Strilchuk said.
During the event, the most interesting facts were related about the Ukrainian language and state symbols, and poems were recited.
And the holiday ended with a flash mob: the children of military and police officers unfurled a blue and yellow cloth on the square to the tune of the National Anthem performed by the Lutsk bell ringer.
Information Policy Department
