On August 23, 1991, the yellow-and-blue flag was solemnly carried into the chamber of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It was this event that laid the foundation for the celebration of Ukraine’s National Flag Day. On January 28, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially adopted it as the National Flag of Ukraine. Today, the Ukrainian flag is known and revered throughout the world. It unites society, serves as a reminder of the nation’s historical journey, and remains a symbol of the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people. On the occasion of Ukraine’s National Flag Day, we invite you to reflect on the most significant chapters in the history of this national symbol in the Donetsk region.
From the very beginning of Ukraine’s War of Independence, the National Flag of Ukraine became a symbol of resistance in the Donetsk region. On April 17, 2014, nearly two thousand residents of Kramatorsk and nearby towns took part in a pro-Ukrainian rally in Kramatorsk, which at that time had been seized by Russian occupiers. One of the symbols of the April 17, 2014, rally was a 40-meter Ukrainian flag, which had been sewn specifically for the event. That day, it was carried from the “Airplane” monument to Peace Square. Since then, this flag has been present at nearly all major events in Kramatorsk. In 2018, the inscription “Kramatorsk Is Ukraine 04/17/2014” was added to it. And on February 23, 2022, on the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the flag was ceremoniously unfurled in the city’s central square, once again proclaiming, “Kramatorsk is Ukraine!”
The Ukrainian flag at the “Kramatorsk – Ukraine” rally
On May 22, 2014, in occupied Druzhkivka, Anatoliy Danilovich Vodolazky held a solo protest carrying the Ukrainian flag. Just 10 minutes after he raised the Ukrainian flag, Russian mercenaries appeared and took him to a torture chamber in Kramatorsk.
After the de-occupation of part of the Donetsk region in the summer of 2014, events in which the Ukrainian national flag was launched toward the temporarily occupied territories on balloons began to gain popularity. These actions were a peaceful way to support Ukrainians who remained on the other side of the contact line and to remind everyone once again that Donetsk Oblast was and remains Ukrainian.
In late October 2017, a huge Ukrainian flag was launched into the sky above Avdiivka on 50 balloons. It was directed toward the temporarily occupied city of Horlivka. Local residents and military personnel gathered to unfurl the flag. Notably, the balloons for the event were donated by children from Kramatorsk, and the flag itself was sewn by a craftswoman from Donetsk. The enemy opened fire on the balloons but was unable to bring down the flag.
Svitlodarsk also distinguished itself through the “Donbas Is Ukraine” campaign series from 2018 to 2021. Activists, military personnel, and local residents launched not just flags toward the occupied territories. They also released balloons carrying patriotic leaflets and music players playing the national anthem into the air above the occupied territories. In this way, concerned Ukrainians showed their support for their fellow citizens and friends who found themselves under Russian occupation.
Record-Breaking Flag in the Sky Above Avdiivka, 2018
In August 2018, to mark Ukraine’s National Flag Day, volunteers launched a record-breaking 120-meter Ukrainian flag from the outskirts of Avdiivka toward occupied Donetsk. The flag was raised to a height of 6 kilometers using helium-filled balloons. It became the largest flag ever raised into the Ukrainian sky with the help of balloons. This record has been entered into the National Book of Records.
The idea was carried forward: on Ukraine’s National Flag Day in 2020, activists from the civic organization “Progressive Youth of Donbas” held an event in Bakhmut, and later near the “Maiorske” entry-exit checkpoint. Ukrainian national flags measuring 1.5 by 1 meter, attached to dozens of yellow-and-blue balloons, rose into the sky toward the temporarily occupied city of Horlivka. The organizers emphasized that they sought to demonstrate that the Ukrainian flag knows no demarcation line, and that support for the residents of the occupied territories remains unwavering.
The Ukrainian military carried on this tradition. On September 9, 2023, on Avdiivka City Day, the defenders raised the Ukrainian national flag into the sky in the direction of the temporarily occupied city of Donetsk. Symbolically, on the same day in the center of occupied Donetsk, unknown individuals hung a Ukrainian flag on the building of the former “Ukraine” hotel on Artema Street. Both events served as further confirmation that Ukrainian symbols remain a sign of resistance even in temporarily occupied territories.
Flags were repeatedly launched into the sky in other cities of the Donetsk region near the front lines as well. Military personnel, volunteers, civil society organizations, local government officials, and young people joined these initiatives. For residents of the temporarily occupied territories, these actions were a sign that they had not been forgotten, and for all of Ukraine, a reminder that the national flag symbolizes the country’s unity regardless of the front line.
In the occupied territories, the “Yellow Ribbon” Movement is organizing acts of resistance to support like-minded people and affirm the country’s unity: activists are raising and hanging blue-and-yellow flags and painting images in the colors of the national flag in cities and towns as a sign of resistance and resilience.
Members of the underground organization “Donbas Resistance” raised the Ukrainian flag in occupied Donetsk
In October 2016, in occupied Donetsk, several young people climbed to the top of a slag heap and unfurled a blue-and-yellow flag there. The activists raised the Ukrainian flag on Donetsk’s tallest slag heap.
And in August 2022, in occupied Mariupol, a local resident, standing on the roof of a high-rise building against the backdrop of the city destroyed by the occupiers, unfurled a Ukrainian flag bearing the inscription: “Mariupol is Ukraine” and lines from the National Anthem: “Our enemies will perish like dew in the sun; we, brothers, will reign in our own land.”
On September 12, 2022, Ukrainian forces liberated Sviatohirsk, which had been under Russian occupation since June 5. Over the course of more than three months, the Russians destroyed residents’ homes, infrastructure, a school, and roads. However, despite this, on one of the city’s streets—Kurortna Street—four dozen Ukrainian flags remained intact; these had been installed in 2020 by local activists and volunteers in honor of Ukraine’s Independence Day.
Between 2022 and 2026, Ukrainian troops repeatedly raised the Ukrainian national flag in the hottest battle zones of the Donetsk region: near Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Vuhledar, Chasovyi Yar, and Toretsk. Such actions remain extremely important today, as for every Ukrainian they are the ultimate proof that the Ukrainian spirit remains unbroken and that the fight continues for every centimeter of Ukrainian land.