On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine today, Việt Nam News presents an article written by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Việt Nam, Oleksiy Shovkoplias.

What is it like to be the Ambassador of Ukraine, a country that celebrates 25 years of  independence today?

It’s both easy and difficult at the same time. The interesting point, however, is that it is easy and difficult for the same reasons.

It is easy because it is natural for one to be proud of his or her country when it demonstrates such high achievements in nearly all spheres of human activity. At the same time, it is not a simple task to represent such a country. The responsibility of the position is quite considerable.

Only several decades ago, Ukraine built the largest, most powerful and fantastically beautiful cargo plane worldwide — "Mriya" (Dream), which is admired not only by professionals but also by the people which are far from the aviation industry. When the Ukrainian "Mriya" lands in any airport of the world, it usually causes immense excitement among local journalists, aviators and ordinary people, which gather to catch a glimpse of the technological wonder. They admire the possibilities already turned into reality by human genius.

Of course, the Ukrainian "Dream" represents the achievement of the entire Ukrainian aviation industry, which also contains an incredible amount of high-quality modern aircraft under the famous "Antonov" brand. Any air show, be it in France, Britain or in Germany, cannot be complete without Ukrainian "Antonov" planes. This highly accomplished aviation design bureau always surprises the international community with new exciting aircraft models.

Ukraine is also a space flight-focused country, which has a full cycle of design and production of rockets and satellites. Ukraine actively cooperates with NASA in the task of launching satellites up to the Earth orbit.

Ukraine has a powerful industry for the design and manufacturing of practically any type of naval vessels and it cooperates with the most advanced maritime countries in this area.

Ukrainian painters bring joy and aesthetic satisfaction to art admirers worldwide. Purchasing a painting in the picturesque historical streets or art galleries of Kyiv is the natural desire of any tourist that pursues artistic hobbies.

Ukrainians also create innovative and exciting trends in the fashion world. According to The Telegraph, the traditional Ukrainian embroidered dress has become the main object of desire in the fashion community this summer. The creator of this unusual dress is the Ukrainian designer Vita Kin who adapts traditional national fashion to modern trends. 

Ukraine is also the home of Sergei Bubka and the Klitschko brothers, who are among the most celebrated sportsmen worldwide due to their extraordinary athletic and physical accomplishments. It is the motherland of Sikorsky, who created the world’s best helicopters. And all of the above is just a small sample of incredible individuals from Ukraine that have made amazing contributions to international sport, science and culture.

For the diplomatic community, it is difficult to imagine what the geopolitical balance in the world and in Europe would be like without Ukraine. Furthermore, it is hard to overstate Ukraine’s role and sacrifice in overcoming one of the most (if not the most) catastrophic events in human history, namely - the Second World War. Every seventh of the more than seventy million people killed in that terrible conflict was Ukrainian.

But what’s more important and inspiring – even today the people of Ukraine strive to protect the world from violence and ignorance. They strive to provide people with hope of achieving their own Dream, just as incredible as the one they built to carry impossibly heavy burdens across the sky. — VNS