King Salman, Crown Prince Congratulate Ukrainian President On Independence Day

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday sent cables of congratulations to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the occasion of Ukraine’s Independence Day.

The king and crown prince expressed their wishes for Zelenskyy’s continued health and happiness, and for the government and people of Ukraine to achieve steady progress and prosperity.

Ukraine marks its Independence Day on August 24, commemorating the country’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

The holiday was first celebrated on 16 July 1991, as the anniversary of Ukraine’s Declaration of State Sovereignty.

Following the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on 24 August 1991, and its confirmation by a national referendum on 1 December that year, the official date of the holiday was changed.

Before 1991, the Ukrainian diaspora traditionally marked January 22—commemorating the 1918 declaration of independence by the short-lived Ukrainian People’s Republic—as Independence Day.