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What did late August 2018 show Kyiv?
Summary
Flag-raising, a military parade and new US sanctions marked the days leading up to 27 August 2018.
What was the mood in Ukraine on 27 August 2018, as the country moved past its most symbolic week of the summer? The days just before that date offer an answer in three events.
On 23 August, Ukraine marked State Flag Day with celebrations at home and abroad. In Dnipro, President Petro Poroshenko raised the largest national flag, measuring 12 by 18 metres. The city that gives this publication its name became the stage for the gesture.
On 24 August came Independence Day. A military parade was held in Kyiv to mark the occasion, closing a two-day run of national ceremony.
A sanctions story from further afield
Amid the festivities, another development unfolded in the wider region. On 21 August, the United States imposed sanctions on two Russian shipping companies and six vessels, citing their involvement in transferring oil to North Korea. The measure was reported as part of the broader state of Russia–United States relations.
The items are unrelated in cause, and nothing in the reports links them. Taken together, though, they show how a single week could hold both domestic ritual and international pressure on Moscow-based firms. By 27 August, the flags and parade were behind Ukraine, and the sanctions announcement was a few days old.
