November 21 is the Day of Dignity and Freedom

Nowadays, when the racist hordes came to our land and the whole nation stood up for the protection of our Motherland, such concepts as “dignity” and “freedom” have acquired special importance. It is for them that we are fighting and we will not give even a scrap of our territory to the enemy. These very ideas capture the hearts of our courageous, proud and indomitable people.

November 21 is the Day of Dignity and Freedom in Ukraine. This holiday is established in accordance with the decree of the President in honour of the beginning on this day of the Orange Revolution of 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity of 2013.

This day became the successor of Freedom Day, which was celebrated on November 22 from 2005 to 2011, and was later cancelled.

On November 21, 2013, public protest actions began in Kyiv in response to the decision of the authorities to stop the course towards European integration and cancel the process of preparing for the signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union.

Disrespect for the legally established priorities of Ukraine’s foreign policy, which was the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, caused the people’s indignation. Ukrainians went to a protest rally in the capital, and then in other cities.

By midnight, about 1,500 people had gathered on the Maidan. On November 28, a student strike began, in which tens of thousands of people participated.

Euromaidan participants demanded the resignation of President V. Yanukovych. On the night of November 30, Berkut residents brutally dispersed the demonstrators, and dozens of people were injured. It was then that a peaceful protest turned into a real revolution! Already on December 1, up to one million protesters came out – Kyivans and residents of other cities and villages of Ukraine. In February 2014, Yanukovych’s criminal regime was overthrown, and he fled to Russia.

The defence of the highest democratic values ​​cost the lives of 106 killed (“Heavenly Hundred”) and more than 2,000 wounded. The Maidan stood for three months, until the very spring of 2014, and then other dramatic events unfolded in the country — Russia’s occupation of Crimea and the territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions…

So, the Day of Dignity and Freedom is our national holiday, which is of great importance for every Ukrainian. Its goal is to confirm the aspirations of the citizens of Ukraine for democracy, justice, freedom, and movement towards the European community, from which we will not turn back.