To mark Europe Day, the EU Delegation to Ukraine illuminated the Motherland Monument in the colours of the EU flag

On May 9th night, Kyiv was shining in blue and gold.

To mark Europe Day, the EU Delegation to Ukraine illuminated the Motherland Monument in the colours of the EU flag — a powerful symbol of solidarity between Ukraine and Europe.

Visible from across the city, the monument stood as a reminder that Ukraine's European future is not a distant promise. It is here, it is now and it is real.

EU Del to Ukraine

The European Union Ambassador to Ukraine Katarína Mathernová shared her thoughts: 

"I was wondering yesterday what Brezhnev would say if he saw the Motherland Monument illuminated in European Union colours for the very first time.

Honestly, I think he would be horrified. Which makes it even more beautiful.

Last night, under the sounds of Ode to Joy, one of the most iconic Soviet monuments lit up in blue and yellow European colours in the heart of Kyiv.

And it was a powerful moment.

Because the story of the Motherland Monument is, in many ways, the story of Ukraine itself.

Built in 1981 as a symbol of Soviet power, imperial victory and Moscow’s dominance over Ukraine, the monument was meant to glorify the USSR forever.

Leonid Brezhnev himself attended its opening.

Back then, nobody could have imagined that one day this giant steel figure would stand above a free Kyiv illuminated in the colours of Europe.

Or that the Soviet hammer and sickle on its shield would be replaced by the Ukrainian trident.

But history has a sense of irony.

What was once built as a monument to Soviet control has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

And yesterday, for one evening, it also became a symbol of Europe’s unity with Ukraine. Not because Europe wants to erase history.

But because Ukraine is rewriting it.

That is why yesterday mattered.

Because sometimes one illuminated monument can say more about the future of Europe than a hundred diplomatic speeches.

Happy Europe Day, dear Ukraine!"