KYIV -- Hundreds of Ukrainians have joined together to form a live chain across the Dnieper River in Kyiv to mark the 1919 Unification Act of the Ukrainian People's Republic and the short-lived West Ukrainian People's Republic.
In a statement to mark the Day of Unity on January 22, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that in the modern world the feeling of a nation as a whole arises not only through common traditions, culture and religion, but also because of the values that are "acceptable to every corner of Ukraine."
"To be strong, one must become one. To become one, one must be strong. We need to keep that in mind," Zelenskiy's statement said.
Zelenskiy's statement comes amid efforts to reinvigorate the moribund peace process with Russia, which has created uncertainty and division within Ukraine.
The Kremlin's relationship with Ukraine has been hostile ever since protests in Kyiv led to the overthrow of the nation’s pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula shortly thereafter and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, sparking a war in the Donbas region that has resulted in more than 13,000 deaths.
"On Ukrainian Unity Day, we call on Russia to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, including Crimea and the Donbas, extending to its territorial waters," the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv wrote in a post on Twitter.
Zelenskiy, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, and Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk took part in a ceremony marking the day by laying flowers at the monuments of prominent Ukrainian writer and thinker Taras Shevchenko and historian and politician Mykhaylo Hrushevskiy.
The Day of Unity has been marked as a national holiday in Ukraine since 1999, but the first "life chain of unity" occurred on January 21, 1990, when the country was still part of the former Soviet Union.
The outpouring of nationalism saw hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians stand in a chain that was so long it connected the capital with several other nearby cities.
Kyiv Marks Ukraine's Day Of Unity With Human Chain Across The Dnieper River

Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
Heavy Shelling Reported In Donetsk Region As Ukrainian Forces Make Gains In Kherson
2Tank Warfare Plays Crucial Role In Battle For The Donbas
3Ukraine Targets More Russian Arms Depots As Safety Fears Grow At Occupied Nuclear Plant
4Bulgaria's Underground Truffle Trade
5Interview: With The 2008 Georgia War, 'We Knew What Was Coming, But We Were Slow To Believe It'
6Defending Bakhmut: How Ukraine Is Countering The Russian Offensive In The Donbas
7Kherson Clampdown: Russian Authorities Going Door-To-Door, Mandating Russian Passports, Official Says
8Estonia's Contentious Soviet Monuments
9'Final Stage Putin' And The War In Ukraine
10Russians Blame 'Sabotage' For Blasts At Crimean Ammo Depot; Kyiv Hints At Role
Subscribe