Feast of the Day of the Baptism of Rus in Ukraine. Kuleba responded to Lavrov's ridicule. Photo: UNIAN
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov accused the Ukrainian authorities of making the Day of Christianization of Rus' a public holiday. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country, Dmytro Kuleba, called the comment impertinent.
Lavrov stated that Ukraine wants to "privatize the Day of Christianization of Rus", and joked that "perhaps soon Mr. Zelenskyy will decide that the New Year can only be celebrated in Ukraine." At a briefing on August 26, Kuleba noted that with this decision, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy put the historical record straight and the Day of Ukrainian Statehood will be celebrated on the Day of Christianization—July 28.
"For all people who are not irrational and understand history, the comments of Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov about this decree of the President of Ukraine and Ukrainian history in general are impertinent, historically incorrect. It is very disappointing to see another transformation of diplomacy into propaganda performed by Russian diplomats."
Dmytro Kuleba
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Kuleba added that Ukraine, unlike Russia, "does not need to privatize anything," since the country was on its own land a thousand years ago, and remains on it. At the same time, he accused the Russian Federation of "coming to a foreign land, trying to appropriate it, as well as someone else's history, dishes, and culture."
"Ukraine was, is and will be. The decree of the President of Ukraine simply documented this fact. There is one Kyiv, and this is Ukrainian Kyiv, and this is the capital of the Ukrainian state that was originally the capital of ancient Rus’. This is our story. This is our past, our present, and our future," the Minister added.
Context. On August 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree introducing a new public holiday—the Day of Ukrainian Statehood. It will be celebrated on the Day of Christianization of Kyivan Rus'-Ukraine, that is, on July 28.