The Unity Day in the current context

As part of the Unity Day of Ukraine celebrations, the activists held a patriotic flash mob called the “Unity Ribbon.” It involved participants carrying ribbons with attached plates with the names of all regions of Ukraine, Crimea, and cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, and then tying the ribbons together and forming a circle. This action symbolizes the unity and indivisibility of our country.

“This is a special holiday,” political analyst Serhii Taran said. “The past year has brought us closer than ever before, as it required us to care about everything that happened in the east, the west or the central part of Ukraine. We have lost much, have seen many people die, but we have gained an understanding of who we are. Today, even in politics, we are seeing no debate as to the direction of the nation. We are no longer debating whether we should have a second official language or not. Nobody is questioning our civilizational choice. The year was very difficult for Ukraine, but it saw us fully understanding, for the first time, who the Ukrainians are. Being a Ukrainian means loving liberty, freely choosing one’s government and determining how the country should look like and how we are to live.”

The order in which the ribbons were tied to each other was of interest as well. The Kyiv City ribbon was the first, Kyiv region followed, joined then by Luhansk and Donetsk, while Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk came the last. Having connected all the ribbons, the event’s participants sang the anthem of Ukraine.

Yana Sydorenko from Cherkasy rarely takes part in public activities, but she decided to join the rally on January 22. “It is a very symbolic day. We demonstrate the nation’s unity and indissolubility with our action. It does not matter what region we are from, as both Kyiv and Donetsk belong to the united Ukraine. Our boys are now fighting on the front line, and we civilians want to show that we do care, that their efforts are really needed all over the country.”

After the event, the activists presented the “Largest Embroidered Map of Ukraine” project. According to its originator Olha Malynovska, this map was embroidered by 6,000 people from all over the country for close to six months. They embroidered it mostly with traditional symbols of their regions, and recited poems and prayers as they worked. Over 10 kilometers of yarn were used for the map which has half a million crosses embroidered on it. The project’s participants hope that this map will become a talisman for all of us.