Reflections on Ukraine’s Independence Day: KIU Alumnus Michael Dobbins

28. August 2025

On August 24, celebrations of Ukraine’s Independence Day (День Незалежності України) take place both in Ukraine and around the world, commemorating the proclamation of the Declaration of Independence in 1991. Three days after the Communist coup in Moscow (August 21, 1991), the Verkhovna Rada adopted Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence, which was subsequently confirmed by a nationwide referendum on December 1, 1991. It is, however, important to remember that Ukraine looks back on a tradition of (quasi-)statehood spanning more than a thousand years. Particularly noteworthy are Kyivan Rus (882–1240) and the Cossack Hetmanate (Ukrainian: Гетьманщина; 1648–1764), which strongly resisted incorporation into Russia or Polish-Lithuanian rule. After a long period of forced Russification, the early 20th century saw several attempts to establish a Ukrainian nation-state, such as the Ukrainian People’s Republic (1917–1918; 1918–1921), the Ukrainian State (1918; “the Second Hetmanate”), and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic (1918–1919), before Ukraine was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union.

In light of current discussions about possible territorial concessions, it is important to emphasize that over 90% of Ukraine’s citizens voted for the country’s independence at the end of 1991. Even in regions considered more “Russian-influenced,” large majorities voted in favor of independence (83.9% in Donetsk, 83.6% in Luhansk, 57.7% in Sevastopol, 54.19% in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and between 85% and 98% in all other regions).

Two additional milestones should also be mentioned, as they are often ignored in Kremlin-friendly narratives: the Budapest Memorandum (1994) and the “Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation” (1997). In short, the Budapest Memorandum obliged Ukraine to transfer its nuclear weapons to Russia, while the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia committed themselves to guaranteeing Ukraine’s territorial integrity. In 1997, Ukraine and the Russian Federation once again explicitly affirmed the territorial integrity of both countries and their existing borders in a friendship treaty. Also significant in this context is the NATO-Russia Founding Act of May 27, 1997, in which both sides committed themselves to respecting the sovereignty of all states.

Today, Ukraine’s Independence Day—celebrated both within the country and abroad in recognition of Ukrainians’ centuries-long struggle for freedom, sovereignty, and human dignity—offers a unique annual opportunity to recall these historical facts and dispel any doubts about the legitimacy of an independent, sovereign, and democratically constituted Ukraine.

Micheal Dobbins