Lithuania marks Ukraine’s 35th Independence Day with events
Lithuania Lithuania is marking Ukraine’s 35th Independence Day on Monday with commemorative events in Vilnius and Kaunas, LRT reports.
A solidarity rally will take place in the evening in Vilnius Cathedral Square to mark the occasion, express support for the Ukrainian people and back Ukraine’s victory and a just peace.
In Kaunas, commemorations will begin at noon at a memorial plaque on Laisvės Avenue dedicated to Yevhen Konovalets, commander of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. The Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union will hold a ceremonial formation and a flower-laying ceremony there, after which participants carrying Lithuanian and Ukrainian flags will walk to the garden of the Vytautas the Great War Museum.
Flowers will be laid at the Freedom Monument and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before a formal ceremony at the Vytautas the Great War Museum. The programme will include the national anthems of Lithuania and Ukraine, prayers for fallen defenders of freedom, and speeches by museum and Ukrainian diplomatic mission representatives. The event will conclude with a concert by the Ukrainian ensemble Malvos and soloists.
Ukraine declared independence on August 24, 1991, after the coup in Moscow collapsed. Lithuania recognised Ukraine’s independence on December 4 that year, and the two countries established diplomatic relations on December 12.
Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.