Slava Ukraini
The phrase eventually resurfaced in Ukraine during the country's struggle for independence in connection with the fall of the Soviet Union.
[4] It has been used in speeches by Ukrainian politicians like President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as numerous foreign leaders.
[1] According to historian Yana Prymachenko it was used in the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic by the regiment of the Black Zaporozhians [uk], commanded by Petro Dyachenko, in the form: "Glory to Ukraine!"
[1] Insurgents fighting in Kholodny Yar, the last bastion of Ukrainian anti-Soviet resistance in 1919–22, also used a similar salute.
[11][1] According to press reports, during the trials of OUN members after the assassination of Bronisław Pieracki, the accused performed fascist-style salutes to the words "Glory to Ukraine!".
After a time, this contributed to the development of national consciousness among many Ukrainians in the General Government and the spread of the OUN greeting.
[16] In July 1940, a Ukrainian observer from the Włodawa area noted: We have not yet seen in our lives such an educated, so organised rural youth.
[17] In April 1941 in German-occupied Kraków, the younger part of the OUN seceded and formed its own organisation, called the OUN-B after its leader Stepan Bandera.
[18][19][20][11] During the failed attempt to build a Ukrainian state on lands occupied by Germany after its invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, triumphal arches with "Glory to Ukraine!
[23] Created in the second half of 1942 by the OUN the Ukrainian Insurgent Army dropped the raising of the right arm above the head.
[25][26] In 1995, President of the United States Bill Clinton used the phrase in a speech in Kyiv[27] (together with "God bless America").
[28] The phrase has undergone a resurgence in recent times, becoming a popular and prominent refrain during the 2014 Ukrainian revolution,[6] and a symbol of democracy and of resistance against Putin's Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[29] Dr. Serhiy Kvit, former Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, appeals to Umland that the slogan became popular not because "it was repeated countless times from the Maidan stage and not because of some campaign of ethnic superiority", but because of "its association with the defiant spirit of a struggle against all odds".
[30] Later, in 2017, Umland together with Yuliya Yurchuk writes that nationalist symbols during Euromaidan acquired new meaning – a reaction to Soviet and post-Soviet repression of Ukrainian culture and history.
[31][32] Ukrainian-Canadian historian Serhy Yekelchyk writes that "the nationalist greeting from the 1940s [...] acquired new meaning on the Maidan", and that "when used by protestors, [the slogan] referred to a hoped-for democratic and pro-Western Ukraine and regarded as heroes those who had fallen in service to their cause.
He noted that by the Equality March in 2021, the annual LGBTQ+ event in Kyiv, other variations like "Glory to the nation – death to the enemies!"
would be the official greeting of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, replacing "Hello comrades" (Ukrainian: Вітаю товариші, romanized: Vitayu tovaryshi).
In response, on 10 July 2018, Ukrainian supporters flooded FIFA's Facebook page with over 158,000 comments, most saying "Glory to Ukraine!".
[40] This phrase became very popular among Ukrainian soldiers and their supporters to boost morale following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
[60] Describing the song, Chinese Television System News in Taiwan noted that the song had "peaceful vocals coupled with scenes of bloody conflicts between Hong Kong Police and the people" and that by creating "Glory to Hong Kong", Hongkongers recorded their "history of struggling for democracy and freedom".
[61] The 2 euro commemorative coin issued by the Bank of Estonia in 2022 features the words "Slava Ukraini" (Glory to Ukraine), which was designed by Daria Titova, a Ukrainian refugee studying at the Estonian Academy of Arts.
[62][63] A first-person shooter created by Spacedev Games, titled "Glory To The Heroes" was planning for release in 2024.
