International Desk/

Today marks the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union. People of the country are celebrating Independence Day on Wednesday (August 24).

Meanwhile, Independence Day marks six months since the Russian attack on Ukraine. And even then, the threat of attack from Russia has dampened the Independence Day celebrations.

On the night before Independence Day, the country’s President Zelensky warned of Russian provocations, saying, “We are fighting against the most serious threat to our state and this is at a time when we have achieved the highest level of national unity.”

Public gatherings have been banned in the capital Kiev to mark Independence Day and a curfew is in force in the eastern city of Kharkiv, which is on the front lines of the war.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the Ukraine-Russia war so far. In addition, more than one third of the country’s 41 million population was forced to leave their homes during the war. In 2014, Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine.

On this day in 1991, the Soviet Union broke up and Ukraine came out. In the referendum, the citizens of Ukraine voted in favor of independence. Since then, Ukraine has been celebrating Independence Day on August 24.