The Ukrainian State-Building Tradition
The Day of Ukrainian Statehood was established by a Presidential Decree of Ukraine on August 24, 2021.
The Ukrainian tradition of state-building has a millennium-long history, tracing its origins to the foundation of the Kyivan Rus' by Prince Oleg in 882.
It was during the Princely era that the Old Ukrainian language took shape, the first self-designations of our people emerged – Rusy, Rusychi, Rusyny – the Cyrillic script became our alphabet. From that time also originates our national emblem: the trident (tryzub); the name of our currency: the hryvnia; and since 1187, we have documented usage of the term Ukraine. It is not Russia, but Ukraine that is the legitimate heir to the state and cultural tradition of Kyivan Rus’.
The most epochal event in our national history was the Baptism of Rus’ on July 15, 988, by the Grand Prince of Kyiv, Volodymyr the Great. The adoption of Christianity marked the acceptance by the people and the state not only of the highest ethical and moral norms but also led to a profound shift in worldview, a flourishing of education and culture, the formation of national unity, the development of the first legal code, and the minting of our own coins. Architectural masterpieces of world significance built during that time, St. Sophia Cathedral, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra – remain symbols of our capital to this day, along with notable monuments in other Ukrainian cities.
Following the adoption of Christianity, Kyivan Rus’ was no longer perceived by other Christian states as a barbarian realm and entered the family of civilized nations and the broader European civilization. Furthermore, during the reigns of Volodymyr the Great and Yaroslav the Wise, Rus’-Ukraine became one of the most powerful states in Europe, with a high standard of living, education, and culture for that era.
The state tradition of Old Rus’ continued in the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia, and in certain forms, was preserved in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was often referred to as Lithuanian Rus’.
Later, the idea of restoring Ukrainian statehood was taken up by the Cossacks. During the War of Liberation led by Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the Ukrainian Cossack State was established, with its own borders, government institutions, administrative structure, military, and foreign policy. Although this state was eventually divided between Muscovy and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ukrainians managed to preserve significant elements of statehood in the form of Cossack autonomies from the second half of the 17th century until the late 18th century.
By the late 18th to early 19th centuries, it seemed that the destruction of the Zaporizhian Sich, the elimination of the Cossack class, the enserfment of the peasantry, and widespread Russification would lead to the complete disappearance of the Ukrainian ethnos. Yet, like the mythical Phoenix, the Ukrainian people rose again from the ashes. And with them, the idea of statehood was revived. The Ukrainian national revival of the 19th century laid the groundwork for the rebirth of the Ukrainian state in 1917–1921.
When this First Struggle for Independence ended in failure, the nation did not give up. Instead, it launched the Second Liberation Struggle of 1938-1950. On the eve of and during World War II, the Ukrainian people made attempts to reclaim sovereignty – first on March 15, 1939, with the proclamation of the independence of Carpatho-Ukraine, and again on June 30, 1941, with the Act of Restoration of the Ukrainian State.
During this period of struggle for statehood, Ukrainians suffered enormous losses, as the existence of a Ukrainian state was not part of the superpowers' plans.
Nevertheless, the struggle and sacrifices were not in vain. On the legacy of earlier heroes, new generations of freedom fighters arose. Ultimately, on December 1, 1991, in a nationwide referendum, 90% of voters supported the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on August 24, 1991, marking the beginning of modern Ukrainian statehood.
The peaceful and steady development of the young state did not please Russian imperialists. When all political and economic attempts to destroy modern Ukrainian statehood failed, the rashists (Russian fascists) resorted to armed aggression in 2014. The Putin regime denies not only the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state but even the existence of Ukrainians as a distinct ethnic group. On February 24, 2022, a new phase in the Ukrainian struggle for national survival began.
The history of Ukrainian state-building is inseparably linked with the development of the Ukrainian military and national military traditions. The defenders of our statehood are the descendants of the warriors of Rus’, the Cossacks, the Sich Riflemen, and the soldiers of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Today’s Armed Forces of Ukraine and other defense institutions, holding back the aggressor, the Russian Federation, defend Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and statehood, proving that Ukrainians are a people-family, a people-army, a nation of the brave and unbreakable.
The experience of past centuries has shown that having a state of one’s own is the only means of ensuring physical survival and the key to stable development and national unity. It is clear that throughout its history, the Ukrainian people have consistently demonstrated the will and commitment to secure an Independent, United Ukrainian State.
It is for this reason that on July 15, the Day of Ukrainian Statehood was established, to honor the memory of the outstanding state-builder, Prince Volodymyr the Great, and the Christianization of Kyivan Rus’-Ukraine. On this day, we honor all stages of our state-building journey, from Rus’ to the present, and all those who contributed to the existence of Ukraine as an independent, democratic state.
It is no coincidence that our Constitution states:
“The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, on behalf of the Ukrainian people... expressing the sovereign will of the people, based on the centuries-old history of Ukrainian state-building and on the right to self-determination exercised by the Ukrainian nation, by all the Ukrainian people... aware of its responsibility before God, its own conscience, past, present, and future generations... adopts this Constitution – the Fundamental Law of Ukraine.”
Thus, modern Ukraine exists not by the permission of superpowers or international alliances, but by the will of the Ukrainian nation and the grace of God.
Department of informational work,
Department of International Cooperation and Project Activities