Liberation Day (Ukraine)

The Liberation Day of Ukraine (Ukrainian: День визволення України, romanized: Den vyzvolennia Ukrainy), officially the Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders (Ukrainian: День визволення України від фашистських загарбників, romanized: Den vyzvolennia Ukrainy vid fashystskykh zaharbnykiv), is a holiday celebrated annually on 28 October in Ukraine. It commemorates the Liberation of Ukraine from Nazi Germany on 28 October 1944.

The first settlements in Eastern Ukraine were liberated by the Red Army in December 1942. Major battles for the liberation of the Ukrainian SSR lasted from January 1943 to the autumn of 1944. At this time, half of Ukraine was in the hands of the Red Army. On August 23, 1943, the city of Kharkiv was liberated. On October 27, 1944, Uzhhorod was retaken from the Germans, and Soviet troops arrived at what would be the modern western border of Ukraine. On October 28, 1944, the last territory of current Ukraine (near Uzhhorod, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary) was cleared of German troops; this is annually celebrated in Ukraine (on 28 October) as the "anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from the Nazis".