Wikipedia

Public holidays in Ukraine

The following are 11 public holidays in Ukraine.[1]

Holidays established by law

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Date English name Ukrainian name Remarks
1 January New Year's Day Новий Рік
8 March[2] International Women's Day Міжнародний жіночий день
moveable (Revised Julian) Easter Великдень Religious holiday
moveable (Revised Julian) Pentecost Трійця Religious holiday
1 May[3] International Workers' Day День праці Until 2018, 2 May was also a public holiday[3]
8 May Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II, 1939–1945 День пам'яті та перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні 1939–1945 років To commemorate the end of World War II and the Allied victory over Nazi Germany[4]
28 June Constitution Day День Конституції України To commemorate Ukraine's Constitution of 1996
15 July[5][6] Statehood Day День Української Державності To commemorate the Christianization of Kievan Rus' (28 July until 2023)
24 August Independence Day День Незалежності України From the USSR in 1991
1 October[5][6] Defenders of Ukraine Day День захисників і захисниць України Public holiday since 2015[7]
(14 October until 2022)
25 December[8][9][5][6] Christmas Різдво Христове Religious holiday since 2017, previously celebrated on 7 January (from 2017 to 2022 celebrated on 7 January and 25 December)

During martial law a public holiday is not a non-working day.[10]

 
Easter postcard (by Jacques Hnizdovsky)

Before the Orthodox Church of Ukraine[11][12] and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church[13] switched to the Revised Julian calendar in September 2023 all religious holidays were observed according to the Julian calendar, since then Christmas is officially celebrated on 25 December.[5] From 2017 to 2022 Christmas was celebrated in Ukraine on 2 different days, 7 January (the date of the holiday according to the Julian calendar) and 25 December (the date of the holiday according to the Gregorian and Revised Julian calendars).[9] From 2023 Christmas is only officially celebrated in Ukraine on 25 December.[14][15][16][17]

When a public holiday falls on a weekend (e.g. Saturday or Sunday), the following working day (e.g. Monday) turns into an official day off too.

If only one or only two working days are between a public holiday and another day off then the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine usually releases a recommendation to avoid this gap by moving these working days onto a certain Saturday (that is to have uninterrupted vacations, but to compensate this by work on another day which would be a day off). Usually such recommendations only concern those employees whose weekly days off are Saturday and Sunday.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022 led to a reappraisal of the popularity of the public holidays in Ukraine.[18] A March 2024 study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that the popularity of Independence Day of Ukraine and Defenders Day had both almost more than doubled (from 37% to 64% and from 29% to 58%) while the popularity of International Women's Day had fallen from being labelled "most beloved" by 49% of respondents in 2017 to 21% in March 2024.[18]

Holidays celebrated by the uniformed organizations

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Flag of Ukraine
  • 26 March – National Guard Day
  • 30 April – Border Guards Day
  • 6 May – Day of the Mechanized Infantry
  • 18 May – Reservists' Day
  • 23 May – Marine Corps Birthday, Heroes of Ukraine Day
  • 4 July – Police Day
  • 8 July – Air Defence Forces Day
  • First Sunday in July – Navy Day;[19] From 1997 till 2011 this day was celebrated on August 1[20][21]
  • 29 July – Special Operations Forces Day
  • 8 August – Signal Corps Day
  • 7 September – Military Intelligence Forces Day
  • 9 September – Armoured Forces Day
  • 14 September – Mobilized Servicemen Day
  • First Sunday in October – Territorial Defence Forces Day
  • 29 October – Finance Officers Day
  • 3 November – Rocket Forces and Artillery Day
  • 3 November – Corps of Engineers Day
  • 21 November – Air Assault Forces Day[22][23][24]
  • 6 December – Armed Forces Day; festive fireworks and salutes take place in various cities in Ukraine;[25] The holiday was established in 1993 by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament).[26]
  • 12 December – Ground Forces Day
  • 23 December – Operational Servicemen Day

Other national holidays

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Fixed date

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Movable

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "В Україні з'явився ще один вихідний: 14 жовтня – День захисника України". Урядовий Кур’єр. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  2. ^ Women Demand Equal Rights In Kyiv March, RFE/RL (March 08, 2018)
  3. ^ a b Рада зробила 25 грудня вихідним днем. BBC Україна (in Ukrainian). 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Victory Day Celebration On May 9 Canceled In Ukraine". Ukrainian News Agency. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
    "Rada sets Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism on May 8". Ukrinform. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "Parliament changes dates of Christmas, Statehood Day, Day of Defenders". Ukrinform. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Ukraine moves official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25, denouncing Russian-imposed traditions". AP News. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  7. ^ Day of Defenders and Defendresses of Ukraine celebrated today, Ukrinform (14 October 2021)
  8. ^ "Ukraine seeks distance from Moscow with new Christmas holiday". m.digitaljournal.com. 16 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
    (in Ukrainian)"Рада зробила 25 грудня вихідним днем". BBC Україна. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  9. ^ a b Poroshenko Signs Law Declaring 25 December Public Holiday, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (29 November 2017)
  10. ^ "Public Holidays in Ukraine". Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Denmark. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
    Olena Burceva (8 March 2024). "From iPhone to the end of the war: what do women in Dnipro want on March 8th". Informator (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  11. ^ RFE/RL. "Orthodox Church Of Ukraine Approves Calendar Switch In Widening Diversion From Russia". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Orthodox Church of Ukraine finally adopts new calendar". english.nv.ua. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  13. ^ "HISTORICAL DECISION: THE UGCC IN UKRAINE SWITCHES TO A NEW CALENDAR". Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Zelensky Introduces Proposed Draft Law to Change Holiday Dates". Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  15. ^ Stambaugh, Konstantin Toropin,Alex (29 July 2023). "Ukraine moves Christmas to December 25, distancing itself from Russian tradition". CNN. Retrieved 31 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Ukraine moves Christmas date to 25 December in snub to Russia". The Guardian. 28 July 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  17. ^ Ap (29 July 2023). "Ukraine Moves Official Christmas Day Holiday To December 25". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  18. ^ a b Volodymyr Paniotto (7 March 2024). "Press Releases and Reports – Attitude of Ukrainians to Public Holidays and in Particular to March 8". Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  19. ^ Ukrainian Navy to celebrate its holiday on first Sunday of July – decree Archived 2015-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Interfax-Ukraine (12 June 2015)
  20. ^ Reif, Joe (2001). The Global Road Warrior: 100 Country Handbook for the International Business Traveler (3 ed.). World Trade Press. p. 781. ISBN 1-885073-86-0. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  21. ^ Ukraine Intelligence & Security Activities and Operations Handbook. International Business Publications, USA. 2009. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-7397-1661-8. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  22. ^ "День десантників вирішили перенести". Українська правда. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  23. ^ "Указ Президента України №380/2017 від 21 листопада 2017 року "Про День Десантно-штурмових військ Збройних Сил України"". president.gov.ua. Адміністрація Президента України. 21 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Poroshenko: 469 Ukrainian paratroopers killed in Donbas amid war". UNIAN. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  25. ^ Festive fireworks and salutes to take place in 9 cities on Sunday Archived 2010-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, UNIAN (3 December 2009)
  26. ^ Ukraine marks Armed Forces Day (Video), UNIAN (06 December 2017)
  27. ^ a b Day of Remembrance of Ukraine’s Defenders marked today, Ukrinform (29 August 2020)
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