Independence Day of Ukraine. Portugal
Independence Day of Ukraine. Portugal
This photograph was taken on August 24, 2025, in Portugal, on the island of Madeira, on Ukraine’s Independence Day.
In the photo, I am wearing glasses and white clothing, standing among other participants of the march.
In my hands is an unfolded Ukrainian flag.
On that day, the Ukrainian community gathered in the center of Funchal — just as Ukrainians gather on August 24 in many countries around the world. Without a stage and without loud words. Simply to be visible and to be together.
Since the beginning of the war, Portugal has taken in thousands of Ukrainians. For some, it became a temporary refuge; for others, a new place to live. For me, it became a space where one can openly stand with a Ukrainian flag and clearly understand why you are here and where you come from.
I am creating a website about the war and my family’s history not as an observer.
Repression, violence, the loss of home, and forced displacement were already part of my family’s history long before the current war. That is why independence is not an abstract political term for me, nor a completed event of the past. It is a process that requires presence, responsibility, and memory.
In the news article where this photograph was published, the focus is on numbers, the route of the march, integration, and support from Portuguese society and authorities. This is an important language of facts.
This frame is neither an illustration nor the center of attention.
It is part of the shared chronicle of Ukraine’s Independence Day beyond the country’s borders.
Presence. Time. Memory.