Today, Ukraine celebrates a great day—Independence Day. The Crimean Peninsula has been under occupation for more than ten years, but despite all the risks, our citizens continue to believe in Ukraine’s victory and liberation from the occupiers. Especially on Independence Day, under conditions of occupation, pressure, and total control, Crimean residents express their support for Ukraine, resist the occupiers, and express their firm position on this day with the slightest actions because Crimea is Ukraine.
After the occupation of Crimea by Russia, the invaders banned mass events, rallies, or actions on this day. But this did not stop our citizens.
For example, on August 23 and 24, the occupation “police” traditionally stand guard at the Shevchenko Monument in Simferopol and watch people lay flowers on the pedestal. For example, in 2014, the central Lenin Square in Simferopol was blocked with metal fences, and Shevchenko Park was surrounded by occupation “police” because of an alleged bomb threat.
Similar actions occur in other cities. On Independence Day, residents of Saky lay flowers at the monument to Lesia Ukrainka and Yevpatoriia at the monument to Shevchenko.
Ukrainian activists have been repeatedly detained and taken to police stations, and the occupiers remove flowers from the monuments, but people continue to honor this date despite the possible risks. At the same time, young people can be seen in the cities wearing Ukrainian symbols: clothes in the colors of the national flag, blue and yellow ribbons on their arms, and patriotic manicures.
In 2015, the occupation administration of Simferopol rejected an application submitted on August 18 to hold a rally with a flower-laying ceremony at the Taras Shevchenko Monument. Nevertheless, Ukrainian activists rallied. Then, the occupiers detained representatives of the Ukrainian Cultural Center. A festive worship service was held in the Simferopol Cathedral of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Volodymyr and Princess Olga of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate.
In 2017, Crimean residents prepared a greeting for Ukraine’s Independence Day: residents of Sevastopol, Simferopol, Bakhchysarai, and Feodosiia recorded a video of themselves reading lines from Vasyl Symonenko’s poem “Where are you now, executioners of my people?”
In 2022, on the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day in Simferopol, postcards began to appear in the city and its surroundings, clearly stating that Ukraine and Crimea are integral. The images were painted in national colors and included greetings: “Happy Independence Day to Ukraine.”
In 2023, on Independence Day, it became known about a military operation by Ukrainian special forces in occupied Crimea. The intelligence service reported that a group of Ukrainian soldiers had landed on the peninsula and performed several tasks, as well as installed the state flag.
Despite more than a decade of occupation, our citizens in Crimea, including some resistance movements, continue to demonstrate steadfastness and patriotism. Despite repression, bans, and threats by the occupation administration, Crimean residents find a variety of ways to celebrate this day, laying flowers, organizing underground actions, or even posting leaflets, demonstrating their unwavering desire for freedom and their trust in the restoration of Ukrainian control over the peninsula.