Flags of blue and yellow have sprung up in cities across Australia to commemorate a war-torn Ukraine’s 35th year of independence.
Every major city hosted festivals, markets, concerts, rallies and other events dedicated to the eastern European nation’s 1991 declaration of freedom from the Soviet Union.
It comes exactly four-and-a-half years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In Melbourne, community leaders and state government representatives joined Ukrainian-Australians and their supporters at a rally on Monday night.
Liberal MP Matthew Guy, who is of Ukrainian descent, delivered a speech to a crowd carrying placards reading “Ukraine will resist” and “Stand with Ukraine”.
Religious clerics mixed with children, parents and grandparents to celebrate the country’s hard-won and still-tested sovereignty.
It followed a special event at Sydney’s North Bondi RSL on Sunday, convened to acknowledge the support of the Australian public and those who have joined Ukraine on the front line.
Hundreds marched across Bondi Beach to rally behind the Ukrainian flag, including Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko and active frontline hero Lieutenant Viktoriia Savkiv.
The decorated 25-year-old servicewoman and former combat medic serves as a Commander of an Unmanned Aerial Strike Systems Platoon with the 214th Separate Assault Battalion.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in its latest bid to exert control over its neighbour and block its integration with the West.
The United Nations says more than 16,000 civilians have died in Ukraine since the war started, with hundreds of civilian deaths in Russia.
The number of military deaths on both sides is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.
While traditional military parades in Kyiv remain cancelled because of the threat of Russian missile strikes, the Australian-Ukrainian community is able to demonstrate robust support for the homeland.
It is a message that reverberates to the top of Australia's political flagpole, prompting a renewed message of solidarity from the prime minister.
"Australia stands with the people of Ukraine on Ukraine’s Independence Day," Anthony Albanese wrote on X on Monday.
Ukrainian Council of NSW president Andrew Mencinsky said it was important to show solidarity against Russia's attempts to destroy Ukraine's identity, language, and culture.
"It is a celebration, but it's also a way of carrying that that weight and that trauma together, and we support each other," he told AAP.
Beyond humanitarian aid, the community is urging the federal government to provide critical military assistance and close a fuel sanctions loophole.
Advocates say Russian-linked fuel entering Australia has generated more than $2.5 billion for the Kremlin, exceeding the total aid Australia has sent to Ukraine since the invasion began.
