Ukrainian actors, musicians and television personalities marked the 35th anniversary of the country's declaration of independence on August 24 with messages of unity, freedom and hope for peace, sharing personal reflections with the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN on what independence means to them.
Film, theatre and dubbing actress Natalka Denysenko said independence represented a unique identity, freedom and an inner sense of dignity. She told UNIAN it was the realisation that Ukrainians have their own country, their own land and their own language, and that she felt proud to be Ukrainian. Denysenko said the moments that captured independence most vividly for her were historical ones etched in memory, including the state flag being carried into the Verkhovna Rada on Independence Day and the speech given by Vyacheslav Chornovil, the Ukrainian dissident and politician who led the pro-independence Rukh movement.
Actors on Freedom and Choice
Theatre and film actor Pavlo Tekuchev said independence for him meant the ability to make his own choices, the happiness of shaping his own story and pride in his country. As an actor, he said, he understood well the great happiness of being free to tell stories in his own voice. Since becoming a father, he added, he hoped being Ukrainian could one day be simply a natural part of life rather than something that had to be defended and fought for, in the same way that happiness is.
Singer and composer TAYANNA told UNIAN that independence meant having enough strength of spirit to be an individual, to make her own choices and to take responsibility for them. She described it as not depending on others, having a strong inner core and standing firmly on her own feet, with a life built on values instilled since childhood, including respect for family, for herself and for the people around her, and respecting the freedom of others without trying to control them or becoming dependent on someone else's will.
A Chef and a Singer Add Their Voices
Chef Olha Martynovska said independence for her was freedom itself, the right to it and, at the same time, a great responsibility that came with it. She said it meant the ability to choose her own path, to live, work, create and build a future in her own country, adding that Ukrainians today understood especially well the price of that right.
Ukrainian blogger and singer THE OLEG said independence meant the freedom to be himself, without needing to ask anyone's permission for who he wanted to be, what he said, created or chose. He described it as the freedom to live in his own country and to decide what its future would look like.
Solomiya Vitvytska Shares Photos Ahead of Motherhood
Television presenter Solomiya Vitvytska, who is expecting her first child, shared photographs taken with her husband to mark the day. She said this year's Independence Day was special because the pictures showed the couple were now effectively three, and that her greatest wish was for her child to grow up in a free, strong and peaceful Ukraine.
Taras Tsymbaliuk Calls for Unity Over Discord
Actor Taras Tsymbaliuk used his message to call for unity, saying independence and unity were inseparable. He said the enemy took pleasure whenever Ukrainians argued with each other on social media, and warned that people were becoming used to a dangerous internal process of discord that they had no right to allow. While dark times continue to envelop Ukraine's lands, he said, everyone should focus on their own skills, calling and direction, doing everything possible to be useful to their country, concentrate on self-development and become a support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and for those who need help.
His partner, actress Olena Svitlytska, said Ukraine's independence and a woman's independence were closely connected. She said independence began with something simple, the right to decide for herself what her life would look like, though she added she did not relate to independence in the sense of needing no one. Instead, she said she wanted to love, to be loved, to stand beside a strong man, to build a family and to allow herself to be tender and vulnerable, staying not because she had nowhere else to go but because she chose to stay every day. She called that mature independence, and said that with Ukraine turning 35 and her own birthday approaching, she wished for both of them the same thing: never again to let anyone convince them that they had too much freedom.
Ilona Hvozdeva's Wish for Peace
Ilona Hvozdeva, winner of the television show "Dancing with the Stars" and a choreographer, also congratulated Ukraine on its 35th anniversary of independence. She said that, like every Ukrainian, she now had one wish: a peaceful sky, happy children, husbands beside their families and heroes on their native land. She wished Ukrainians patience, strength and faith that the war would not last forever, adding that she hoped hearts and souls would remain full of love and kindness for one another despite the difficult times.
