The day Ukraine declared independence

On August 24, 1991, Mykola Porovskyi, along with other members of the Ukrainian Parliament, carried a big blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag into the parliamentary chamber. It replaced the red-and-blue flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, and it is still kept in the building. On that day, the people's representatives of what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Republic declared independence from Moscow and proclaimed the state of Ukraine.

Porovskyi had fought for this. He was one of the founders and leaders of the People's Movement party ("Rukh"), which formed part of the opposition to the Communist Party and campaigned for national independence. Over the years, Porovskyi served in Parliament for a total of three terms. Today, he leads the small Republican Christian Party, which is not represented in Parliament. On the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of Ukrainian independence, Porovskyi recalls the events in an interview with DW.

'A unique political opportunity, which we seized'

In August 1991, an attempted coup took place in the Soviet Union: A self-proclaimed "State Committee on the State of Emergency" in the capital, Moscow, tried to depose the then-Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev. After the coup failed, democratic forces in Kyiv decided they would declare Ukraine's independence "come what may," says Porovskyi.

The democratic opposition had entered Parliament in the first free elections in 1990, and its faction was known as the "People's Council." It requested a special session on August 23 and tasked two of its deputies, Levko Lukyanenko and Leontiy Sandulyak, with drafting a declaration of independence. "It was a unique political opportunity, which we seized," Porovskyi says.

Agreement between the opposition and the Communists

The communist majority consisted of 239 deputies and was therefore known as the "Group of 239." As Porovskyi recalls, "It would have been impossible to declare independence without their votes." He explains that Ihor Yukhnovskyi, the chairman of the opposition People's Council, was also aware of this, so he set out to "convince the Communists."

"You must know that the democratic forces that have come to power in Moscow will bring criminal prosecutions against many of you. We therefore propose to declare the independence of the state of Ukraine, to break away from Moscow and declare ourselves an independent country," Yukhnovskyi said at the time, addressing a gathering of the Group of 239 in a movie theater.

"In an independent Ukraine, where we are not controlled from Moscow like puppets, it will be easier for us to agree among ourselves," Porovskyi added. However, he recalls the Communists making demands. They wanted guarantees that there would be no persecution of Communists, that they would not be removed from public office, and that all their years of work would count towards their pensions. Their demands were accepted, and the Parliament proceeded to vote.

'Ukraine has risen!'

"When we declared the independence of the state, there was a demonstration taking place near the parliament building, with between 10,000 and 12,000 people shouting 'Independence!'" Porovskyi recalls. Carrying that big blue-and-yellow flag, the demonstrators marched through downtown Kyiv to the parliament, where members of the People's Council were waiting for them.

Porovskyi remembers this moment in particular. "The deputy Dmytro Pavlychko shouted, 'People, get down on your knees, pray, Ukraine has risen! We have declared state independence!' Some cried, others raised their hands to the sky, others prayed. It was a moment of great joy."

The flag was then carried into the parliamentary chamber, says Porovskyi, visibly moved by the memory. At the front, it was held by the long-time Soviet dissident and then-deputy Vyacheslav Chornovil, along with the deputy Ivan Sayets. Right behind him was Porovskyi, also helping to carry in the flag. "These moments still move me when I think of them today," he says.

'We were confident of victory'

At the time, there were around 900,000 members of the Soviet armed forces stationed in Ukraine, including special units with 60,000 men. Porovskyi comments that this was a "terrible, gigantic force that could have crushed millions of people to dust" and was "ready to annihilate every shoot of Ukrainian national, patriotic, and state rebirth upon command." But, he says, "We believed in a good future, that the entire Ukrainian people would rise up and follow us. We had no fear of armed forces, of resistance, because we were confident of victory."

Just a few days after Ukraine declared independence, a delegation from Moscow led by the vice president of the Russian Federation, Alexander Rutskoy, arrived in Kyiv. They wanted to enforce a new union treaty for the former Soviet republics and proposed establishing a confederation, Porovskyi explains.

Following an appeal on the radio, almost 60,000 Kyiv residents gathered outside the parliament. Porovskyi recalls an interesting moment. He had asked the Russian politician Anatoly Sobchak to address the people. It was all going well, he says, until Sobchak, who worked closely with the then-unknown KGB officer Vladimir Putin, started talking about a renewed Soviet Union. "The people shouted 'Ukraine without Moscow!' and 'Independence!'" Porovskyi remembers. Three days later, Sobchak stood at the microphone in the Ukrainian Parliament and said, "All of Ukraine is for independence; I saw it with my own eyes."

'I have fulfilled my duty as a citizen'

When the Russian-Ukrainian war began in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Porovskyi, at 58 years old, was no longer required to join the army. However, as a reserve officer, he set about convincing the recruitment offices to allow him to serve. "I spent a lot of time talking about my love for Ukraine, about dedication and self-sacrifice. I wanted to be there for my country," he stresses. He initially served in an artillery brigade, then became deputy commander of a special unit.

Porovskyi had reached the rank of colonel by the time he eventually retired from the Ukrainian armed forces on grounds of age. He does not consider himself a hero. "I believe in the Ukrainian national idea, and my fate is tied to Ukrainian statehood. I have fulfilled my duty as a citizen," he says.

This year, too, Porovskyi will come to Independence Square in Kyiv on August 24, along with former comrades, all of them veterans. It was there, on the Maidan, that he participated in three revolutions: the "Revolution on Granite," a student protest in October 1990; the "Orange Revolution" of 2004; and the "Revolution of Dignity" that was the culmination of the Euromaidan protests of 2013-14. And from here, the largest square in the heart of the Ukrainian capital, he went to war.

"This is where it all began, and this is where we will come," says Porovskyi.

This article was originally written in Ukrainian. It was translated into English from German.