On February 16, the Day of Unity is celebrated in Ukraine: national flags are hung all over the country, the anthem is played. Experts believe that the main purpose of the new holiday is to reassure citizens who have been preparing for the “invasion” of Russia for several days. Whether the Day of Unity will be fixed in the Ukrainian calendar and whether it helped the inhabitants of the country - in the material. In Ukraine, by decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky, February 16 is the Day of Unity. The head of state announced the introduction of a new holiday just two days before it.

The Ukrainian leader decided to "unite" the nation on the day when Western media predicted Russia's "attack" on Ukraine.

According to the decree “On Urgent Measures for the Consolidation of Ukrainian Society”, on February 16, it was instructed to raise the national flag on houses and structures throughout the country, and at 10:00 to play the national anthem.

“We are told that February 16 will be the day of the attack. We will make it Unity Day. The corresponding decree has already been signed. On this day, we will hang out national flags, put on blue and yellow ribbons and show our unity to the whole world,” Zelensky announced.

The new holiday has already been celebrated in the Verkhovna Rada. Before the session of the parliament, the choir performed there, the participants of which put on national costumes and settled down on the upper stands. Ukrainian flags were hung in the hall. During the performance of the anthem of Ukraine, judging by the video from the Rada, all those present in the hall stood up, many put their hands on their hearts.

Whether the holiday affected ordinary Ukrainians is not entirely clear.

Anastasia, a resident of Kharkiv, said she did not notice much celebration in her city, but in one of the state institutions, which she passed twice, the Ukrainian anthem was played.

According to her, she treats this holiday normally and believes that people need to be once again reminded of their love for their country and develop this feeling “within healthy limits”.

“I believe that this is a healthy way to once again rally people, unite them, remind us that we all live in one state,” she said.

As a resident of Kharkov admitted, recently she tried not to delve into the news agenda so as not to be nervous again.

“We had a very tense situation in the country, many were afraid, worried. Now people are starting to calm down a little, especially after the news that the Russian military has finished its exercises and is retreating from the Ukrainian borders. This cannot but rejoice. I felt a little calmer, although I'm still afraid of a dirty trick. In addition, I noticed that now the dollar began to decline. In the days when the tension increased, it jumped, and now it is already falling, ”said Anastasia.

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Not only Ukrainians

Zelensky also instructed foreign diplomatic institutions to hold events in the host states aimed at uniting and supporting Ukraine.

The ambassadors of the EU countries, who continue to work in Kiev, also decided to celebrate this day.

The head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, said on Twitter that the Delegation raised “the Ukrainian flag along with the flag of the European Union” in Kiev. “I’m not sure if this is quite in line with the rules, but these are extraordinary times,” Maasikas said.

The ambassadors of the EU member states, headed by Maasikas, also laid flowers at the Wall of Remembrance in Kiev. “On this Unity Day, all the ambassadors of the EU member states paid tribute to the victims of this aggressive war of Russia to show that we are united with Ukraine, Ukrainians, we are united with each other,” NV.ua quoted Maasikas as saying.

“Today we celebrate the Day of Unity of the Ukrainian people, which has been resolutely resisting armed aggression for eight years now. We remember and honor those who died for a free and independent Ukraine and the security of its people. The EU supports Ukraine,” the diplomat wrote.

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“This day is different in that nothing happened on that day”

The holiday was organized to calm the people of Ukraine, to give them a break from the information campaign of recent days, Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries, believes.

“This day is different in that nothing happened that day. As far as I understand, this was arranged to neutralize the very significant neuroticization of the population of Ukraine, which was arranged by the Americans and the British with the help of their press.

People were really scared. To arrange some kind of relaxation, we decided to make a free day, a holiday, the unity of the country, national flags, something so optimistic, ”said the expert.

In his opinion, this holiday will be forgotten next year, but he expressed the hope that this year it will play its positive role and people will at least a little come to their senses "after all this hassle that their best friends supposedly caused them."

In Ukraine, there really is a fear because of the information campaign of recent days, this is obvious, since not only diplomats, but almost all the oligarchs, a lot of high-ranking officials have left the country, political scientist Andrei Suzdaltsev noted.“They themselves fanned this story, and then they themselves got scared. Some kind of hysteria is created from the empty, and then the population mobilizes in support of the authorities, which act as its defender.

That is, it turns out the following: there is about to be a war, so we will all unite now, but there is no war - they were afraid of us, that we are so good, we are so united around the president. Of course, this is also necessary for the rating: elections are coming soon, and Zelensky’s rating is almost equal to the rating of his main opponent, ex-president Petro Poroshenko, ”the expert said.

bbabo.Net