Four years of full-scale war has still failed to break Ukraine

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Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the site of a heavily damaged building following Russian strikes in Kyiv on May 24, 2026. [AFP]

Today, Ukraine marks 35 years since the restoration of its independence. 1991 did not create Ukraine. It restored sovereignty to a nation whose history, culture, and identity long predated the previous version of the Russian Empire–the Soviet Union.

Independence meant far more than replacing one flag with another. It meant ending the claim of an imperial centre to define who Ukrainians were, to absorb our history, to suppress our language, traditions and institutions, and to decide our future from afar.

This pattern is familiar far beyond Ukraine. Nations that have emerged from colonial rule know that independence means more than formal sovereignty.