The Museum of the History of Kyiv hosted the festival “A Millennium of Ukrainian Statehood: From Rus’ to Modern Ukraine,” dedicated to Ukrainian Statehood Day. For two days, the museum served as an open space for historians, scholars, museum professionals, archivists, reenactors, and everyone interested in the history of Ukraine to come together.
The festival was organized by the Museum of the History of Kyiv and the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. The event was held in partnership with the Central State Historical Archive of Ukraine in Kyiv, the Desiatynna Church Museum, the “Kyivgrad” Interactive History Center, the Atira Ruthenia historical reenactment club, the “Pecherska Sotnia of the Kyiv Registered Cossack Regiment” military-historical reenactment society, the “Independent Ukraine” military-historical club, the NGO “Symbols of Identity,” and other partners.
The festival demonstrated the continuity of Ukrainian statehood through the history of political traditions, military culture, law, symbolism, and the enduring line of state-building ideas. Its program combined lectures, historical reenactment, master classes, and an exhibition of unique artifacts, allowing every visitor to find their own way of exploring the history of Ukraine.
One of the festival’s central events was an exhibition of unique artifacts illustrating the millennium-long tradition of Ukrainian state-building. Visitors saw remarkable objects from different historical eras — from a hryvnia of Kyivan Rus’ to the seal of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi — reflecting the evolution of Ukrainian state symbols and institutions of power.
Opening the festival, Oleksandr Alfyorov, Chairman of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, emphasized: “Our statehood is not defined by dates, but there are events and phenomena that outline the boundaries of the state-building process. This festival allows us to see those boundaries and perspectives, to feel its thousand-year continuity. For centuries, a war has been waged against us and our identity. And we are proud that we have preserved these thousand-year-old artifacts. Together, we are marking the milestones of our identity.”
“Our partners, speakers, scholars, researchers, and museum professionals have come together around the idea of marking Ukrainian Statehood Day. It is thanks to this collaboration that we managed to create an open space for dialogue about the centuries-long history and continuity of Ukrainian state-building. This holiday is one of the youngest in Ukraine, yet at the same time it reminds us of the thousand-year path of our state’s formation. We hope that with each passing year, it will bring together more and more people around our history, culture, and shared memory,” said Viktoria Mukha, Director General of the Museum of the History of Kyiv.
Visitors paid particular attention to the discussion lecture series featuring leading Ukrainian historians, scholars, and history popularizers. Vitaliy Kapranov spoke about history as a weapon in the contemporary information war, Natalia Starchenko discussed Rus’ as the core of Ukrainian nation-building in the 16th–17th centuries, Oleksandr Alfyorov addressed the phenomenon of Ukrainian statehood across different historical eras, and Olena Kokhan spoke about Kyiv as the capital of the Ukrainian state tradition.
One of the most popular spots was the military-historical reenactment area, dedicated to the continuity of generations of Ukrainian defenders. Visitors were able to explore the daily life, crafts, and military culture of the era of Rus’, the Kingdom of Rus’, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Cossack state, as well as the period of the Ukrainian Revolution and the struggle for independence of 1917–1921.
Reenactors presented examples of weapons, armor, banners, and military equipment from various historical eras, and spoke about the everyday life of warriors, the nature of combat, and the development of military affairs. Festival guests took part in the reenactors’ interactive demonstrations, learned calligraphy, and explored history through hands-on experience.
The festival “A Millennium of Ukrainian Statehood: From Rus’ to Modern Ukraine” once again demonstrated that cooperation among state, museum, scholarly, and civic institutions is an essential part of preserving historical memory, promoting Ukrainian history, and affirming Ukraine’s state-building tradition.
