On August 29, Ukraine commemorates the Day of Remembrance of Defenders of Ukraine, who died in the struggle for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
One of the most tragic episodes of the Russian-Ukrainian war before the full-scale invasion relates to this date – the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers from the encirclement near Ilovaisk.
The Russian-Ukrainian war began on February 20, 2014, and the battles for Ilovaisk in August of the same year became one of the climaxes of its initial stage, having a serious impact on both Ukrainian society and international relations in Europe. On August 29, 2014, the aggressor opened fire on our defenders in the sunflower fields during the “green” corridor. 366 Ukrainian soldiers died there, 429 were wounded, 158 were missing, 300 were captured. That is why the symbol of the Day of Remembrance of Defenders of Ukraine became the sunflower flower. It is not just a reminder of the historical courage of our soldiers, but also symbolizes life.
On this day, we remember those who died in the Ilovaisk tragedy, as well as tens of thousands of defenders of Ukraine who have fallen since 2014 in the modern Russian-Ukrainian war. They stand in the same line with all generations of fighters for freedom and state independence – from the soldiers of Ukraine-Rus’, the knights of Konstantin Ostrozky, the Cossacks of Petro Sahaidachny, Bohdan Khmelnytskyi and Ivan Mazepa to the Ukrainian People’s Republic Army and the Galician Army of the West Ukrainian People’s Republic, the Anti-Hitler coalition of the Second World War, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. These worriors courageously won heroic victories and risked their lives for Ukrainian freedom. For 10 years now, Ukraine has been going through the biggest test in modern history – it has been waging an armed struggle for independence and territorial integrity against the Russian aggressor.
As long as the war continues, we cannot know the exact number of dead, name everyone, or tell all the heroic or tragic stories. However, we are sure that Ukrainian society will make every effort to ensure that the fallen heroes remain in our memory not as an abstract image or number but receive due respect. So that our memory of them was alive and effective.
The commemoration of the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine on August 29 was not chosen by chance, because it was on this day in 2014, during the Russian-Ukrainian war and the Ilovaisk operation, that a Ukrainian group of troops broke through from the Russian encirclement, where the massive heroism of volunteers and soldiers was manifested, and many Ukrainian soldiers died. Those tragic events of the Russian-Ukrainian war unfolded in the east of Ukraine, precisely in the fields of sunflowers that were already ripening. That is why the dream was chosen as a symbol of the Day of Remembrance of defenders of Ukraine who died in the struggle for independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
We invite Ukrainians and people from all over the World to participate in the annual commemorative action “Sunflower” – to make stylized “Sunflower” from fabric and place them on clothes on the left side of the chest. We encourage children and youth to be involved in the creation of symbolic dreams to promote a respectful attitude towards the defenders of Ukraine from a young age and to explain the significance of this day for our country.
https://mva.gov.ua/ua/news/informacijni-materiali-do-dnya-pamyati
(With the support of the Consulate of Ukraine in Edinburgh and the Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Northern Ireland.)
