Navy Pier Ukrainian Independence Day was held on Saturday, August 20 at 5:00. The Ukrainian community of Chicago and suburbs gathered to mark Ukraine’s proclamation of independence after the fall of the Soviet Union, and celebrate the unity, bravery, and resolve of the Ukrainian people and its government to push Russia out of Ukraine.
The event was hosted by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America with support from the Consulate General of Ukraine. Donations for humanitarian needs in Ukraine were collected.
Food and drinks were served. The evening included performances by community singers, dance groups, a choir, and also presented an electrifying performance by Lynne Jordan and Shivers, who in the past played in Ukraine at Maidan Square at the center of Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv. Topping the program will be the rock-folk band “Efira”, and the fireworks marked the end of the evening.
The program also included a visual performance by Ukrainian women dressed in white with tape over their mouths symbolizing silence by social media that blocks the truth about Russian atrocities because it is “sensitive content”, asking the US government to proclaim Russia as a terrorist state, and to stop the Russian gruesome invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainians are united now more than ever before. Opinion polls show that more than 90% of the population of Ukraine opposes making territorial concession to Moscow. Putin’s brutality, bombing civilian targets indiscriminately has destroyed any pro-Russian attitudes. Faced with annihilation, with backs to the wall, Ukrainians have no choice but to fight to defend their independence, their lives, and their land. Ukraine’s determination to move West and push out of Russian’s grasp is now a permanent reality.