Day of Unification of Ukraine (22/01)

Day of Unity of Ukraine (Ukrainian. Council Day of Ukraine) — is a public holiday celebrated on January 22. It was established in accordance with Decree of the President of Ukraine № 42/99 of January 21, 1999, in honor of the day of the proclamation in 1919 of the Act of Reunification of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) and the West Ukrainian People's Republic (WUNR) into a single Ukrainian state.

In January 1918, the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) was created, and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (WUNR) was formed in the territories that were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In December 1918, the leaders of the two states in Fastov signed a pre-unification treaty. On January 22, 1919, this treaty, which went down in history as the «Zluki» (Velika Zluka) — Act of Unification of Ukrainian Lands, was promulgated in Kyiv on Sophia Square.

Although the state failed to maintain unity and independence at that time, the «Zluki» Act became the real embodiment of Ukrainians’ age-old dream of their sovereign state.

A united Ukraine did not last long: a difficult economic and military situation, mutual distrust of politicians led to the fact that just a few months after the proclamation of Reunification, the Bolsheviks occupied Kiev, Eastern Galicia was occupied by the Poles, and Transcarpathia — Czechoslovakia.

But although the «Zluki» Act of 1919 turned out to be declarative, the idea of conciliarity continued to live on. In the early 1990s, during the period of the movement for the revival of independent Ukraine, it received new development. Thus, in 1990, on this day, millions of Ukrainian residents lined up in a human chain from Kyiv to Lvov, celebrating Unity Day.

Since then, every year, on January 22, various mass and ceremonial events have been held on the streets of Kyiv and other cities.

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