The following are 11 public holidays in Ukraine.[1]
Holidays established by law
During martial law a public holiday is not a non-working day.[10]
Before the Orthodox Church of Ukraine[11][12] and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church[13] switched to the Revised Julian calendar in September 2023 all religious holidays were observed according to the Julian calendar, since then Christmas is officially celebrated on 25 December.[5] From 2017 to 2022 Christmas was celebrated in Ukraine on 2 different days, 7 January (the date of the holiday according to the Julian calendar) and 25 December (the date of the holiday according to the Gregorian and Revised Julian calendars).[9] From 2023 Christmas is only officially celebrated in Ukraine on 25 December.[14][15][16][17]
When a public holiday falls on a weekend (e.g. Saturday or Sunday), the following working day (e.g. Monday) turns into an official day off too.
If only one or only two working days are between a public holiday and another day off then the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine usually releases a recommendation to avoid this gap by moving these working days onto a certain Saturday (that is to have uninterrupted vacations, but to compensate this by work on another day which would be a day off). Usually such recommendations only concern those employees whose weekly days off are Saturday and Sunday.
6 December – Armed Forces Day; festive fireworks and salutes take place in various cities in Ukraine[25] The holiday was established in 1993 by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's national parliament).[26]
29 August – Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine[27] (remembrance day of the great Ukrainian casualties during the Battle of Ilovaisk on August 29, 2014)[27] and Beheading of John the Baptist
Commemorative and remembrance days in honor of Ukrainian victories won in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Beginning 2023 the following days are earmarked as days of remembrance and honor in relation to Ukrainian victories during the current (2022) invasion:
13 March – Victory Day in the Battles of Voznesensk
26 March – Victory Day in the Battle of Okhtyrka
28 March – Victory Day in the Battle of Irpin
31 March – Victory Day in the Battle of Bucha and Relief of the Siege of Chernihiv
4 April – Victory Day in the Battles of Sumy and Hlukhiv
8 April – Victory Day in the Battle of Mykolaiv
13 May – Victory Day in the Battle of the Siverskyi Donets
14 May – Victory Day in the Battle of Kharkiv
4 June – Memorial Day of the Deceased Children and Young War Victims of the Invasion
16 September – Liberation of Kupiansk Day
2 October – Victory Day in the Second Battle of Lyman
^"В Україні з'явився ще один вихідний: 14 жовтня – День захисника України". Урядовий Кур’єр. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^Women Demand Equal Rights In Kyiv March, RFE/RL (March 08, 2018)
^ a bРада зробила 25 грудня вихідним днем. BBC Україна (in Ukrainian). 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^"Victory Day Celebration On May 9 Canceled In Ukraine". Ukrainian News Agency. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023. "Rada sets Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism on May 8". Ukrinform. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
^ a b c d"Parliament changes dates of Christmas, Statehood Day, Day of Defenders". Ukrinform. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
^ a b c"Ukraine moves official Christmas Day holiday to Dec. 25, denouncing Russian-imposed traditions". AP News. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
^Day of Defenders and Defendresses of Ukraine celebrated today, Ukrinform (14 October 2021)
^"Ukraine seeks distance from Moscow with new Christmas holiday". m.digitaljournal.com. 16 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017. (in Ukrainian)"Рада зробила 25 грудня вихідним днем". BBC Україна. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^"Public Holidays in Ukraine". Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Denmark. 25 February 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2024. Olena Burceva (8 March 2024). "From iPhone to the end of the war: what do women in Dnipro want on March 8th". Informator (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 8 March 2024.
^RFE/RL. "Orthodox Church Of Ukraine Approves Calendar Switch In Widening Diversion From Russia". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
^"Orthodox Church of Ukraine finally adopts new calendar". english.nv.ua. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
^"HISTORICAL DECISION: THE UGCC IN UKRAINE SWITCHES TO A NEW CALENDAR". Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
^"Zelensky Introduces Proposed Draft Law to Change Holiday Dates". Get the Latest Ukraine News Today - KyivPost. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
^Stambaugh, Konstantin Toropin,Alex (29 July 2023). "Ukraine moves Christmas to December 25, distancing itself from Russian tradition". CNN. Retrieved 31 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Ukraine moves Christmas date to 25 December in snub to Russia". The Guardian. 28 July 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
^Ap (29 July 2023). "Ukraine Moves Official Christmas Day Holiday To December 25". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
^ a bVolodymyr Paniotto (7 March 2024). "Press Releases and Reports – Attitude of Ukrainians to Public Holidays and in Particular to March 8". Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
^Ukrainian Navy to celebrate its holiday on first Sunday of July – decree Archived 2015-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Interfax-Ukraine (12 June 2015)
^Reif, Joe (2001). The Global Road Warrior: 100 Country Handbook for the International Business Traveler (3 ed.). World Trade Press. p. 781. ISBN 1-885073-86-0. Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^Ukraine Intelligence & Security Activities and Operations Handbook. International Business Publications, USA. 2009. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-7397-1661-8. Archived from the original on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
^"День десантників вирішили перенести". Українська правда. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
^"Указ Президента України №380/2017 від 21 листопада 2017 року "Про День Десантно-штурмових військ Збройних Сил України"". president.gov.ua. Адміністрація Президента України. 21 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
^"Poroshenko: 469 Ukrainian paratroopers killed in Donbas amid war". UNIAN. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
^Festive fireworks and salutes to take place in 9 cities on Sunday Archived 2010-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, UNIAN (3 December 2009)
^Ukraine marks Armed Forces Day (Video), UNIAN (06 December 2017)
^ a bDay of Remembrance of Ukraine’s Defenders marked today, Ukrinform (29 August 2020)