Ukraine celebrates Independence Day on 24 August. On this day in 1991, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has been fighting to defend its independence at the cost of the blood of its defenders. Several volunteer fighters from Latvia – Vitālijs Smirnovs, Edgars Platonovs and Ņikita Sļadzevskis – have also fallen in the war waged by the aggressor.
In Ukraine, a minute’s sil...
