Get ready for colourful vyshyvanka clothing and bowls of borscht: it’s Independence Day in the Ukraine! 

It was only 24 years ago that Ukraine became an independent state. This momentous occasion for Ukrainians is celebrated annually and here in the UAE, a Ukrainian community of around 1,600 expats will gather to sing, eat and reflect on the importance of 24th August.

We’ve spoken to some Ukrainians in Abu Dhabi to find out what they love about living here and what Independence Day means to them.

Ksenia Girona from Vinnitsa

“The UAE has given me plenty of opportunities to exercise my profession as an assistant director and screenwriter, as well as having a wonderful lifestyle.

“We eat dishes such as varenyky – dumplings stuffed with cottage cheese, potatoes and meat. We also eat crepes, salads and of course chicken Kiev.

“We sing folk songs and the National Anthem. In between speeches we greet each other with slogans like: ‘Slava Ukraini! Heroyam Slava!’ which literary means ‘Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes’.”

Oksana Shumylo from Odessa

“I’ve been here for 15 years now. What I like about the capital is that you have the opportunity to get to know people from different parts of the world; you learn from different cultures and traditions without leaving the city.

“This year, I’ll be meeting with fellow Ukrainian friends over a traditional feast – which must be huge, just as it always is back home!”

Yevheniy Semenov from the Chernivtsi region

“It’s a festival of liberty, a new page in history for Ukraine, which began on 24th August, 1991. People became free to tell everybody that they are Ukrainians, to speak Ukrainian, to sing Ukrainian songs and to choose their own future.

“To celebrate this year, I’ll wear our national day clothing called vyshyvanka, and in the evening many of us from the Ukrainian community will gather for dinner, eating typical dishes and singing songs.”

Borscht

 

It may not be winter but you can still dig into a comforting bowl of this traditional Ukrainian soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ medium beetroots, peeled and grated
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 ½ medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 8ml vegetable oil
• 170g tomato paste
• ¼ medium cabbage, cored and grated
• 1 tin diced tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 60g sour cream
• 2g fresh chopped parsley

Method:

• Fill a large pot with about 1.5 litres of water and bring to a boil.
• Add the beetroot and cook until it has lost its colour.
• Add the carrot and potatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes, until tender.
• Now add the cabbage and diced tomatoes to the pot.
• In a separate pan, heat the vegetable oil, add the onion and cook until tender. Then add the tomato paste and stir in 90ml of water. Once fully mixed, transfer this to the larger pot.
• Add the raw garlic into the mixture and turn off the heat. Let it stand for five minutes before tasting and adding salt and pepper to season.
• Ladle into a bowl and finish with sour cream and fresh parsley.