Public holidays in Ukraine

The following are the eleven public holidays in Ukraine.

Holidays established by law

Date	English name	Ukrainian name	Remarks
1 January	New Year's Day	Новий Рік
8 March	International Women's Day	Міжнародний жіночий день
moveable	Easter	Великдень	Christian holiday
moveable	Pentecost	Трійця	Christian holiday
1 May	International Workers' Day	День праці	Until 2018, 2 May was also a public holiday
8 May	Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II, 1939–1945	День пам'яті та перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні 1939–1945 років	To commemorate the end of World War II and the Allied victory over Nazi Germany
28 June	Constitution Day	День Конституції України	To commemorate Ukraine's Constitution of 1996
15 July	Statehood Day	День Української Державності	To commemorate the Christianization of Kievan Rus'
24 August	Independence Day	День Незалежності України	From the USSR in 1991
1 October	Defenders of Ukraine Day	День захисників і захисниць України	Public holiday since 2015
25 December	Christmas	Різдво Христове	Christian holiday since 2017, previously celebrated on 7 January

During martial law a public holiday is not a non-working day.
Before the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church switched to the Revised Julian calendar in September 2023 all Christian holidays were observed according to the Julian calendar, since then Christmas is officially celebrated on 25 December. From 2017 to 2022 Christmas was celebrated in Ukraine on 2 different days, 7 January and 25 December. From 2023 Christmas is only officially celebrated in Ukraine on 25 December.
When a public holiday falls on a weekend, the following working day turns into an official day off too.
If only one or only two working days are between a public holiday and another day off then the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine usually releases a recommendation to avoid this gap by moving these working days onto a certain Saturday. Usually such recommendations only concern those employees whose weekly days off are Saturday and Sunday.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine that started on 24 February 2022 led to a reappraisal of the popularity of the public holidays in Ukraine. A March 2024 study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that the popularity of Independence Day of Ukraine and Defenders Day had both almost more than doubled while the popularity of International Women's Day had fallen from being labelled "most beloved" by 49% of respondents in 2017 to 21% in March 2024.

Holidays celebrated by the uniformed organizations

26 March – National Guard Day
30 April – Border Guards Day
6 May – Day of the Mechanized Infantry
18 May – Reservists' Day
23 May – Marine Corps Birthday, Heroes of Ukraine Day
27 May – Special Operations Forces Day
4 July – Police Day
First Sunday in July – Navy Day; From 1997 till 2011 this day was celebrated on 1 August
First Sunday in August – Air Defence Forces Day
8 August – Signal Corps Day
7 September – Military Intelligence Forces Day
9 September – Armoured Forces Day
12 September - Electronic Warfare Troops Day
14 September – Mobilized Servicemen Day
First Sunday in October – Territorial Defence Forces Day
29 October – Finance Officers Day
3 November – Corps of Engineers Day
21 November – Air Assault Forces Day
4 December – Rocket Forces and Artillery Day
6 December – Armed Forces Day; festive fireworks and salutes take place in various cities in Ukraine; The holiday was established in 1993 by the Verkhovna Rada.
12 December – Ground Forces Day
18 December - Military Counterintelligence Day
23 December – Operational Servicemen Day

Other national holidays

Fixed date

5 January – Anniversary of the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
5 January – Epiphany Eve
6 January – Epiphany
7 January – Synaxis of the Holy Prophet and Forerunner of Christ, Saint John the Baptist
20 January – Day of Remembrance of the Ukrainian Defenders of the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport
22 January – Ukrainian Unity Day, marking both the 1918 Fourth Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council and the 1919 Unification Act
24 January - International Day of Education
29 January - Battle of Kruty Memorial Day
2 February – Candlemas
14 February - Valentine's Day
16 February – Unity Day
20 February – World Day of Social Justice and Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Martyrs of Euromaidan, the Heavenly Hundred Heroes
21 February – Day of Dignity and Freedom, anniversary of the 2014 victory of the Revolution of Dignity
24 February – Mourning Day of the Beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine
26 February – Day of Resistance to Occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol
19 March – Saint Joseph's Day
25 March – Feast of the Annunciation and the Day of the Security Service of Ukraine
26 March - Synaxis of the Archangel Saint Gabriel
6 April - International Day of Sport for Development and Peace
20 April – Earth Day
26 April - Memorial Day of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster
7 May – Beginning of the Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War and Second World War Remembrance Day
9 May – Europe Day and Anniversary of the 1920 Kyiv Polish-Ukrainian Victory Parade
14 May – Memorial Day of the Ukrainian Fallen of the Second World War
15 May – International Family Day
24 May – Saints Cyril and Methodius' Day
28 May - All-Ukrainian Local History Day
29 May – International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
4 June - International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
5 June - World Environment Day
19 June - Ukrainian Farmers' Day
22 June – Day of Remembrance and Sorrow
23 June – Olympic Day and Day of the Ukrainian Civil Service
24 June – Kupala Night and the Nativity of John the Baptist
29 June – Feast of Saints Peter and Paul
1 July - Ukrainian Architects' Day
15 July – Day of Christianization of Kievan Rus'–Ukraine
16 July – Anniversary of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine and Ukrainian Bank Employees and Auditors Day
1 August – Honey Feast of the Saviour
6 August – Feast of the Transfiguration / Apple Feast of the Saviour
12 August – International Youth Day and International Day For Monuments and Sites
15 August – Feast of the Assumption and Dormition of the Mother of God
16 August – Nut Feast of the Saviour
23 August – Black Ribbon Day and National Flag Day
28 August - Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Far Caves
29 August – Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine and Beheading of John the Baptist
31 August – Feast of the Cincture and Holy Belt of the Mother of God
1 September – Knowledge Day and Eastern Rite Ecclesiastical New Year
8 September – Feast of the Nativity of Mary
12 September - Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary
14 September – Feast of the Cross
15 September - International Day of Democracy
17 September – Adoption Day
28 September Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Near Caves
30 September – All-Ukrainian Day of Libraries
1 October – Intercession of Mary Most Holy the Mother of God, Day of Ukrainian Cossacks, Ukrainian Veterans' Day
2 October - Synaxis and Feast of St. Andrew of Constantinople/Istanbul, Fool-for-Christ
14 October – Anniversary of the Formation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army
24 October - United Nations Day
27 October – Day of Ukrainian Literature and Language
28 October – Liberation from Fascism Day
31 October – Reformation Day
2 November - All Souls' Day
5 November - International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
9 November – Day of Ukrainian cultural workers and masters of folk and traditional arts
13 November – Reformation Day
20 November – Proclamation Day of the Ukrainian People's Republic and World Children's Day
21 November – Feast of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God into the Temple and Dignity and Freedom Day
6 December – Saint Nicholas Day
8 December – Feast of the Immaculate Conception
9 December – Feast of the Conception of the Virgin Mary
24 December – Christmas Eve, also marked as Day of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine
26 December – Boxing Day
31 December – New Year's Eve and Malanka (Bounteous Evening)

Movable

Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Caves – second Sunday of Orthodox Great Lent
Earth Hour – last Saturday of March
Maundy Thursday – marked three days before Western Christian and Orthodox Easter
Good Friday – marked two days before Western Christian and Orthodox Easter
Holy Saturday – marked on the Saturday before Western Christian and Orthodox Easter
Bright Monday – Monday after Orthodox Easter Sunday
Feast of the Ascension – Thursday ten days before Pentecost
Pentecost Sunday in the Gregorian Calendar – 7th Sunday after Easter/Pascha as marked by Catholics and most Protestants
Whit Monday – Monday after Pentecost
Trinity Sunday – first Sunday after Pentecost
Feast of Corpus Christi – Thursday after Trinity Sunday
Vyshyvanka Day – third Thursday of May
Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - Friday after Corpus Christi
Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God - Satuday after Corpus Christi
Day of the Ukrainian Cinema - 2nd Saturday of September
Teachers' Day - First Sunday of October nearest 5 October, World Teachers' Day, or 5 October if falling on Sunday
Day of the State Health Services - Second Sunday of October
Christ the King Sunday - Sunday before the 1st Sunday of Advent
Holodomor Memorial Day – fourth Saturday of November