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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Emma Graham-Harrison in Kyiv

Ukraine celebrates independence day with first raid into Crimea

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, holds a banner in the square outside Kyiv’s St Sophia’s cathedral during a ceremony to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, holds a banner in the square outside Kyiv’s St Sophia’s cathedral during a ceremony to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters

Ukrainian forces marked the country’s independence day with a naval raid into occupied Crimea, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised Ukrainians for the defiance and courage that has won them global support in the fight with Russia.

The national holiday celebrates Ukraine’s independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, but this year it also marks 18 months since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion plunged the country into a war for survival.

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