Ukrainians living in Greece gathered in Syntagma Square in Athens on Wednesday to celebrate 31 years since their country’s independence from the Soviet Union. August 24 also marks six months since Russia invaded the country.
The Ukrainians who took part in the celebrations flew Ukrainian flags, as well as placards with slogans for the end of the bloody war, and also in support of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, lionised as the "Azovstal Mariupol Defenders."
The Greek foreign ministry reaffirmed Greece’s solidarity with Ukraine and its commitment to the country’s sovereignty and independence in a message marking Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday.
“Today marks Ukraine’s Independence Day and six months since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On this occasion, Greece reaffirms its steadfast solidarity with Ukraine and its people as well as its commitment to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of all States. Stand with Ukraine,” the message said.
Russian forces Wednesday launched a rocket attack on a Ukrainian train station on the embattled country’s Independence Day, killing 22 people, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after warning for days that Moscow might attempt “something particularly cruel” this week.
The lethal attack took place in Chaplyne, a town of about 3,500 people in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukrainian news agencies quoted Zelenskyy as telling the U.N. Security Council via video. The president’s office also reported that an 11-year-old child was killed by rocket fire earlier in the day in the settlement.
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