Thirty years ago, on July 22, 1990, The Ukrainian Weekly’s front page prominently featured Ukraine’s proclamation of state sovereignty that was voted by the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR on July 16 of that year. The Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine, was defined as “supremacy, independence, fullness and indivisibility of the republic’s authority within the boundaries of its territory, and its independence and equality in external relations.”
An overwhelming majority in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada approved the move by a vote of 355 in favor and four against. The vote was greeted with a standing ovation by the members of the Parliament, and later that day, the national deputies voted 395-5 to declare July 16 a national holiday in Ukraine.