Duka was once again dressed in a vyshyvanka: a 35-meter flag was unfurled in Odesa

In Odesa, to mark Ukraine’s National Flag Day, the statue of the Duke of Richelieu was dressed in a vyshyvanka, and a 35-meter blue-and-yellow flag was unfurled on the Primorsky Steps.

According to an Intent correspondent, the events were organized as part of the Vyshyvanka Festival. The 35-meter flag symbolizes Ukraine’s 35 years of independence, which the country is celebrating this year.

“Today we raised a flag on the Primorsky Steps, the length of which equals the number of years of independence—35 meters. With this event, we are celebrating National Flag Day and thanking the military for the opportunity to live under the blue-and-yellow flag in Odesa,” said Nadiya Novashytska, communications director of the “Vyshyvanka Festival” nonprofit organization.

As is tradition, a vyshyvanka was also placed on the monument to the Duke of Richelieu for the holiday.

According to Natalia Mazharova, organizer of the Vyshyvanka Festival, a new shirt was not created for the monument this year—instead, they used one of the vyshyvankas that the festival had made in previous years. It had already been placed on the Duke prior to 2021.

The shirt features a Bessarabian “bezkinets” pattern—an ornament typical of the southern part of the Odesa region.

The embroidered shirt has a custom cut, specially designed for the monument. The design was created by Svitlana Nakonechna based on authentic patterns. Due to Duke’s size, the shirt is significantly larger than the standard 5XL size.

This year’s Vyshyvanka Festival in Odesa kicked off on the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day with a memorial event honoring those who died for Ukraine.

Recently, the monumentto Duke de Richelieu, located on Primorsky Boulevard in Odesa, was unveiled. This morning, the sandbags that municipal workers and volunteers had placed around the monument at the start of the invasion were removed. 

Андрій Колісніченко