This week in history

May 20 1961: The Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR institutes Taras Shevchenko prizes for outstanding works in the fields of literature, fine arts, music, dramaturgy, and cinematography.

1994: The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reinstates the Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea in its May 6, 1992, redaction.

May 22 1921: The Council of People’s Commissars (Radnarkom) of the Ukrainian SSR adopts a decree on the struggle against illiteracy and creates the All-Ukrainian Commission headed by Hryhorii Petrovsky, the chairman of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee (VUTsVK).

1992: The Crimean parliament cancels the referendum on the peninsula’s independence, scheduled for August.

May 22 1861: The remains of Taras Shevchenko are reinterred on Chernecha Hill near Kaniv.

1997: President Alexander Kwasniewski of Poland ends his visit to Ukraine after signing an act of reconciliation between the two countries.

May 23 1917: The Central Rada adopts the First Universal proclaiming Ukraine’s sovereignty and autonomy.

1990: The II International Folklore Festival opens in Kyiv.

May 24 1991: Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice registers the Green Party.

2002: The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine approves a decision to commence our country’s integration into NATO structures.

May 25 1994: Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice registers the Human Rights Party.

1999: A monument to the celebrated Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko (the “Great Kobzar”) is unveiled in Chernivtsi.

May 26 1648: Cossack troops led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky defeat the Poles in the Battle of Korsun.

1982: The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR resolves to award Kyiv the Friendship of Nations Order in honor of the city’s 1,500th anniversary.