Statehood Day (Ukraine)

Statehood Day or the Day of Ukrainian Statehood is a national holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 28 July in 2022 and 2023, and held annually on 15 July thereafter, in commemoration of the Christianization of Kievan Rus'.

History
On 16 February 2018 three former President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma, and Viktor Yushchenko in an addressed to the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) pleaded for the implementation of a Day of Ukrainian Statehood.

The Day of Ukrainian Statehood (День Української Державності) was established by decree of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2021 during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence and was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on 31 May 2022. It was celebrated for the first time on 28 July 2022. This day was selected as a new national holiday because it is day of the Baptism of Kyiv, which occurred under the rule of Vladimir the Great (Volodymyr the Great) in 988, and this event is seen as a symbol of more than a thousand-year continuation of Ukraine.

After the Bishops' Council was held on 24 May 2023, it became known that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) would ask the authorities to postpone Statehood Day, as well as Defenders Day, due to a Calendar reform in Ukraine, because the holiday of Vladimir the Great in the OCU and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) would be celebrated on 15 July from 2024. On 28 June, President Zelenskyy submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law that moves Statehood Day from 28 to 15 July. The parliament approved this law on 14 July, with 241 deputies supporting the law. The adoption of the law came too late to be signed into law by President Zelenskyy before 15 July, so 2023 became the last year in which the holiday was celebrated on 28 July.

The symbolized of this public holiday is the Ukrainian trident, that is stated to represent struggle, independence, history & identity.