We were fortunate in that our visit to Kiev happened to coincide with a series of military parades. Unfortunately, our Ukrainian language skills are non-existent and so I am unable to share details about the event, but it was photogenic and, with the recent advances of the Ukrainian military in the eastern regions of Ukraine, timely.

There were many thousands of military and law enforcement personnel involved in the event. The picture on Khreschatyk Street below provides a sense of the scale:

And all day, various units were forming up:

Ukrainian soldiers on parade:

 

Or were preparing to form up:

Before, the various units, once they were properly situated, would swing out and begin the march toward Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square):

Ukrainian soldiers on the march:

 

Periodically, a high-ranking Ukrainian military official would slowly drive down the street and stop in front of each formation:

After uttering a few words, the Ukrainian formations would enthusiastically scream something back and he would then move on to the next formation.

Below is the video of this:

 

 

 

If any of our dear Ukrainian readers can shed more light on the event or what was being said, I will happily update this post.