Ukraine Unification Day
Ukraine Unification Day (National Reunification Day)
The Ukrainian People's Republic had been formed in January 1918 from Ukrainian land that had formerly been part of Russia. The West Ukrainian People's Republic was created in 1918 from land that had formerly been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This was the first time that the Ukrainian people had established a single nation out of all the territory they occupied.
The day became an official holiday in 1999. In 2008, Ukrainian president Victor Yushchenko proposed that the holiday be renamed National Reunification Day . The day was remembered in 1987 when hundreds of thousands of people joined hands in a 550-kilometer long human chain stretching from the capital city of Kiev to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine.
Embassy of Ukraine
3350 M St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
202-333-0606; fax: 202-333-0817
www.mfa.gov.ua/usa/en