• Ukraine’s Independence Day coincides with the 31st anniversary of the nation’s vote to secede from the Soviet Union.
• This year’s remembrance takes place exactly six months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky refers to the Russian invasion as a new Independence Day.

This year’s celebration of Ukraine’s Independence Day, which on Wednesday coincided with the 31st anniversary of the nation’s vote to secede from the Soviet Union, has been more solemn, with authorities attending memorials.

A missile attack on a train station in eastern Ukraine that resulted in at least 22 deaths ruined the day and carried out Ukrainian officials’ warnings.

The celebration and parades of previous years have replaced this year’s remembrance, which takes place on Wednesday, exactly six months after Russia’s invasion of the nation started.

In an emotional speech to commemorate the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to the Russian invasion as a new Independence Day, the day on which Ukraine had to fight for its freedom rather than simply vote for it.

“A new nation emerged on February 24 at 4 a.m. Not born, but reborn. A nation that didn’t cry, didn’t scream, didn’t get scared. Didn’t run away. Didn’t give up. Didn’t forget,” Zelensky said Wednesday.

Added him:  “Every new day is a new reason not to give up. Because, having gone through so much, we have no right not to reach the end. What is the end of the war for us? We used to say: Peace. Now we say: Victory.” Ukrainians across the nation paid respect to those who have died in combat since the invasion’s start. Foreign leaders have also travelled to Kiev, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Zelensky and the first lady Olena Zelenska went to the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in the capital. Family members of dead soldiers attended a ceremony at the Field of Mars memorial in the western city of Lviv, where they were clearly upset.

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