Chicago’s Ukrainians meet with Ukraine’s First Defense Minister and Armed Forces founder

The Ukrainian community in Chicago solemnly celebrated the Ukraine Unity Day – the 105th anniversary of the Unification Act of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic, as reported by the UWC Vice President for North America and Ukrainian Congress Committee of America Vice President Marta Farion.

“The Unity Day celebration took place on January 21, 2024, at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Chicago. A whole century has passed since January 22, 1919, when solemn gatherings were held on Sophia Square in Kyiv, where the Unification Act of the lands of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian People’s Republic into a united Great Ukraine was proclaimed. A year earlier, on January 22, 1918, the Fourth Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council was adopted, declaring the full independence $of the Ukrainian People’s Republic. This document became the necessary foundation for the subsequent adoption of the Unification Act,” wrote Marta Farion.

The commemoration of Unity Day in Chicago not only recalls the symbolic significance of the nation’s historical unification but also underscores a crucial principle for the future, serving as a reminder to the global community and, notably, American members of Congress. According to the Vice President of the UWC, maintaining territorial unity is paramount for Ukraine’s success in the ongoing war with Russia and the nation’s future statehood-building endeavors.

General Kostyantyn Morozov, the First Minister of Defense of Ukraine was present at the event. “A surprise for all was the participation of the event of General Morozov, the first Minister of Defense of independent Ukraine in 1991. The struggle for freedom and independence continues to this day, when Ukraine is heroically defending itself from the brutal invasion of russian forces. Ukrainian are united all over the world in their fight for independence and freedom with a strong belief in their victory over evil,” wrote Marta Farion. 

The main speaker at the event was Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations.

The event was also attended by Dr. Mariya Dmytriv-Kapeniak, President of the UCCA, Illinois Division, Andriy Dobriansky, Director of Communications of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Chair of the UWC Committee on Relations with the United Nations, Congress members Mike Quigley, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Danny Davis, representatives of Illinois’ Ukrainian community, federal and local legislative and executive authorities in the United States, the consular corps of the city of Chicago – Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago Serhiy Koledov and Consul Yevgeniy Drobot, Consuls General of Poland and Lithuania, and Ukrainian defenders undergoing treatment in the US after war injuries.