Constitution Day () is a Ukrainian public holiday celebrated on 28 June since 1996.Ukraine celebrating 20th anniversary of Constitution, UNIAN (28 June 2016)Yulia Tymoshenko Goes On Trial A Day Before Constitution Day, Eurasia Daily Monitor (30 July 2011)1996: THE YEAR IN REVIEW , The Ukrainian Weekly (29 December 1996) It commemorates the anniversary of the approval by the Verkhovna Rada of the Constitution of Ukraine on 28 June 1996.Ukraine marks Constitution Day , Ukrinform (28 June 2014)
History 51 hours after taking office as President of Ukraine, after winning the 1994 Ukrainian presidential election, Leonid Kuchma created the Constitutional Commission, which led to the adoption of a constitution of Ukraine in 1996. (page 191) (At the time the 1978 Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was in force in Ukraine. Ukraine celebrates Constitution Day today, RBC Ukraine (28 June 2021)) The Constitution was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada at 9:20 am on 28 June 1996 after deputies had worked all day and all night on the project, remaining in the session hall without breaks. The Constitution of Ukraine is 25 years old! Unusual facts about the main document that few people know, RBC Ukraine (27 June 2021) 315 people's deputies, out of a needed 300, voted for the adoption of the Basic Law. Constitution Day did become a public holiday in Ukraine because its foundation was enshrined in the constitution itself (it is the only public holiday that is mentioned in the constitution). See how the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted 25 years ago: historical photos, RBC Ukraine (28 June 2021) Soviet Constitution day (7 October) was never observed in the Ukrainian SSR (the predecessor of modern Ukraine).The Ukrainian Resurgence by Bohdan Nahaylo, University of Toronto Press, 1999, (page 402)
In the 2000s, most Ukrainians did not see Constitution Day as a holiday, but as an ordinary day off; about 10% believed it should be a working day (12% in 2008; this number had shrunk from 14% in 2003). Як Ви ставитеся до Дня Конституції України? (динаміка, 2003–2008) How do you feel about the Constitution Day of Ukraine? (Recurrent, 2003–2008) , Razumkov Centre (27 June 2008)Більше половини українців не вважають День Конституції святом More than half do not consider Ukrainian Constitution Day holiday , Razumkov Centre (27 June 2008) Only in Western Ukraine was the holiday among the list of most respected holidays in Ukraine. Травневі свята найменше люблять на Заході України – опитування May holidays like least in Western Ukraine – poll, Gazeta.ua (30 April 2010)
In the 2010s, the popularity of the holiday hovered around 5% according to research by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
The Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022 led to a reappraisal of this and other public holidays in Ukraine. A March 2024 study by KIIS found that the popularity of Independence Day of Ukraine and Defenders Day had both almost more than doubled (from 37% to 64% and from 29% to 58%). Constitution Day did not nearly reach those figures: but it did became twice as popular, from 14% in 2021 to 29% in 2023 and in (an opinion poll held in February) 2024 28% of KIIS respondents labelled the holiday "most important or favorite".
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Ukraine celebrates national holiday – the Constitution Day, small explanation of the day and the Constitution of Ukraine by the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry (28 June 2014) Birth of the Ukrainian State and Constitution