More than 600 participants from every region of Ukraine gathered in Kyiv for the Forum of National Minorities and Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine, held to mark the Day of Interethnic Harmony and Cultural Diversity.
Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Greeks, Romanians, Poles, Hungarians, Germans, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Gagauz, Karaites, Koreans, Roma, Georgians, Czechs and representatives of many other national communities and indigenous peoples of Ukraine came not merely to an official forum. They came as people who are living through the hardest years of Ukraine’s modern history together — and who are building it together.
This year’s forum was held under a deeply symbolic motto: «Різні зерна в долонях — та одна весна в серцях» (“Different seeds in our hands — one spring in our hearts”). It was felt in everything — in the words, the music, the shared prayers, the conversations, and even in the space of the event itself.
The forum began in the Garden of National Harmony. Guests walked up the alley of remembrance through spring groves, receiving packets of seeds «Квітуча Україна» (“Blossoming Ukraine”) and symbolic badges containing grass seeds — a reminder that the future always begins with a small seed that people grow together.
One of the most powerful moments was the interfaith prayer for Ukraine. Representatives of different religions — Christians, Muslims and the Jewish community — prayed together for peace, for people and for the country. A special symbol of the day was the Bukovynian memorial tree brought by representatives of the Romanian community. Bread hung from its branches — a sign of remembrance, of home, of human warmth and of gratitude to those defending Ukraine today.
Throughout the day, deeply personal stories were told from the stage by service members of different ethnic backgrounds who are defending Ukraine side by side. They spoke of brotherhood, of home, of the strength of human support, and of how the war has brought people closer to one another.
Young leaders of national communities, international partners, diplomats, volunteers, athletes, artists and representatives of state institutions also spoke at the forum. But titles and positions were not what mattered that day. What mattered was the sense of real human presence and of supporting one another — without distance, without formality, with a great many sincere conversations, introductions and warm encounters.
The forum continued symbolically with the joint planting of trees in the Garden of National Harmony. Representatives of different communities planted new trees together as a sign that Ukraine is a country of many roots but one shared future.
A large open-air cultural programme formed a separate part of the celebration. Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Polish, Korean, Gagauz, Czech, Armenian and German songs, folk dances and music of Ukraine’s many peoples filled the lawn of the Garden. One performance followed another, and the whole space turned into a living map of multicultural Ukraine.
And there were the aromas of national cuisines, traditional dishes and treats offered by the participants. People got to know one another not only through words or performances, but through taste, tradition and the hospitality of their peoples. It is in such simple things — a shared table, bread, music, conversation — that real trust is born.
The closing of the forum was deeply symbolic: volunteers came onto the stage with flower seeds and spoke of how these flowers would bloom after victory — in the Kharkiv region, the Donbas, the Kherson region, Bessarabia, Zakarpattia, Polissia and in a free Crimea.
And that, perhaps, was the day’s strongest impression: for all the different languages, cultures, traditions and histories, Ukraine today sounds like one great polyphony of people who have learned to stand together not only in joy, but in the hardest of times.
The forum was a reminder of something very important: Ukraine’s diversity is not about division. It is about strength, mutual respect and shared responsibility for the country’s future.
The event was held on the initiative of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (ДЕСС), with the support of its partners:
- Voice of Romni
- Embassy of Canada to Ukraine
- Європейська Коаліція — the Alliance of National Communities
- Об’єднана Діаспора Азербайджанців України (United Diaspora of Azerbaijanis of Ukraine)
- Рада національних спільнот України (Council of National Communities of Ukraine)
- Hanns Seidel Stiftung Ukraine
All photographs from the Forum by Dmytro Holovchenko: view the gallery.
