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| Ukraine Observes Independence Day With Subdued Celebrations | Ukraine Observes Independence Day With Subdued Celebrations |
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| Ukraine is observing its second wartime Independence Day by displaying the carcasses of destroyed Russian military equipment along a central avenue in Kyiv, giving residents a firsthand glimpse at the country’s struggle to defend itself from Russia’s invasion. | Ukraine is observing its second wartime Independence Day by displaying the carcasses of destroyed Russian military equipment along a central avenue in Kyiv, giving residents a firsthand glimpse at the country’s struggle to defend itself from Russia’s invasion. |
| There will be no parades or other major events. The authorities have announced that the national holiday on Thursday — which also comes 18 months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began — won’t include public celebrations amid concerns that Russia could launch huge strikes to spoil the occasion. | There will be no parades or other major events. The authorities have announced that the national holiday on Thursday — which also comes 18 months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began — won’t include public celebrations amid concerns that Russia could launch huge strikes to spoil the occasion. |
| “I urge all Kyiv residents and guests of the capital to be as attentive and cautious as possible these days and not to neglect the air-raid warnings,” Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, the capital, said on Monday. | “I urge all Kyiv residents and guests of the capital to be as attentive and cautious as possible these days and not to neglect the air-raid warnings,” Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, the capital, said on Monday. |
| Independence Day in Ukraine commemorates the country’s 1991 break from the Soviet Union, but also increasingly serves as a rallying point for Ukrainians to assert their identity and aspirations. | Independence Day in Ukraine commemorates the country’s 1991 break from the Soviet Union, but also increasingly serves as a rallying point for Ukrainians to assert their identity and aspirations. |
| “People are honoring 1991 not so much for what happened then as for what it represents today,” said Roman Szporluk, a professor emeritus of Ukrainian history at Harvard. “It stands for independence, democracy, Europe, the West.” | |
| Last year, as mass gatherings were also banned, Ukrainians similarly took the opportunity to show defiance against Moscow, with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine delivering a speech in front of another lineup of destroyed tanks in Kyiv. |