October 14 is the Day of Defenders of Ukraine

There is no more important holiday in our calendar than this one because, during the war unleashed against Ukraine by the fascist Putin regime, our state is defended from the enemy by thousands of brave, indomitable soldiers – defenders of Ukraine. These are soldiers, law enforcement officers, rescuers, doctors, and volunteers.

Many of them gave their lives in the confrontation with the wild orc horde.

The history of this holiday is ancient. The Day of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God was highly respected in Sich. It was on this day that the Cossacks elected their new foremen.

Therefore, in 1999, by decree of the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks was established, which is celebrated on October 14.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, on February 23, Motherland Defender’s Day continued to be celebrated, as it was established in Soviet times.

The need to establish a national holiday became particularly acute in 2014 after Russia occupied Crimea and began military operations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced his desire to move the celebration of Motherland Defender’s Day from February 23 to October 14 in his speech on August 24, 2014, in honour of Ukraine’s Independence Day: “We will never celebrate this day according to the military-historical calendar of a neighbouring country again. We will honour the defenders of our Motherland, not someone else’s!”

This holiday was established by the decree of Petro Poroshenko on October 14, 2014.

In 2021, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine renamed the holiday the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, taking into account the significant number of women serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

We also honour the military medics who fulfil their professional and civic duty around the clock — they assist on the battlefield, treat the wounded in hospitals, perform complex operations and pull our heroes out of the other world.

We are confident in our Armed Forces. May the Protection of the Mother of God, which has always been spread over the Ukrainian Cossacks, in the times of this terrible war, become powerful protection against enemy bullets.

Glory to the heroes!