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Ukraine marks Day of Sorrow and Remembrance of Victims of War

08:40, 22 June 2021 – 112 UA

This day is marked on June 22 annually.

Every year on June 22, Ukraine marks the Day of Sorrow and Remembrance of Victims of War. The date was chosen for a reason: on June 22, the major stage of World War II began. In particular, Germany attacked the Soviet Union, which included Ukraine until 1991, and began a sad countdown to bloody days and nights.

Since 2011, on this day, the Ukrainian government organizes a minute of silence, suspending the work of most enterprises and institutions. Public and private transport also stops for a minute.

Establishment of the date in Ukraine

The war with Germany claimed tens of millions of lives. It is estimated that the Red Army lost 6.3 million people who died from injuries, 555,000 people who died from diseases, and who were condemned to execution (according to reports of troops, medical institutions, and military tribunals), and 4.5 million were captured and went missing. The victims of the German invaders were not only the military servicemen but also those who posed no threat: women, children, the sick, and the elderly. Every fifth Ukrainian died during the war.

According to a separate plan, patients of neurological dispensaries and seriously ill people were killed. Labor camps, ghettos, and POW camps, of which 230 were in Ukraine, became conveyors of death.

A major tragedy for millions of peaceful Ukrainians was their forced deportation from Ukraine to Germany and other countries (from 2.4 and 2.8 million civilians). This number was almost 80% of all Soviet people deported by the Nazis.

In 2000, second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma issued the decree that established the Day of Sorrow and Remembrance of Victims of War to support the initiative of the non-governmental organizations of the veterans of war, labor, the Armed Forces, and the victims of the Nazi prosecution. This date was established to honor the memory of sons and daughters of the Ukrainian nation who died during World War II in 1941-1945, their feat and sacrifice.

How it is marked in Ukraine

In 2011, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine approved a mandatory minute of silence in honor of those killed in the war – at 10:00 a.m. on June 22.

The Cabinet of Ministers is also ordered to half-mast the state flag of Ukraine with black ribbons on the buildings and structures of public authorities.

Moreover, the government should also ensure a minute of silence, stopping the work of public authorities, enterprises, institutions and organizations (except for enterprises where it is not allowed to do so by production technology), the movement of public and private transport.

17 comments

  2. When are the krauts going to be forced to pay up for their devilry? Isn’t it an obscenity that Ukraine’s tormentors have allied themselves to each other in a demonic attempt to crush Ukraine?

    Reply

    • And the alliance never broke. They like to recall all the Soviets that died during WWII but outside of Leningrad it was all foreign countries. Belarus and Ukraine took the brunt of the Nazi assault. If there was a shred of honor in the Kremlin they would realize that. We can’t simply call all the eastern front, Soviets. In Russia outside of Leningrad they sat on their hands or sucked their thumbs.

      Reply

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