Every year on August 29, Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine who died in the fight for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. This day was established by the Decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to commemorate the heroism of defenders and volunteers who gave their lives for their Homeland, as a reminder of one of the darkest events of the war in eastern Ukraine - the Ilovaisk tragedy. 

On this day, we remember not only those fallen in the Ilovaisk tragedy, but also thousands of Ukrainian defenders who have fallen in russia's bloody war against Ukraine, which has been going on for over 9 years. 

On August 26, on the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine, the All-Ukrainian race "Honoring Soldiers, Running for the Heroes of Ukraine" took place in the Botanical Garden of Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. The participants of the race - the Ukrainian community of Kaunas, the academic community of Vytautas Magnus University, students from Ukraine, Lithuania and other countries - ran a symbolic 2 km distance in memory of Ukrainian soldiers who gave their lives for Ukraine's independence in battles with the russian enemy.

The All-Ukrainian race "Honoring Soldiers, Running for the Heroes of Ukraine" establishes a tradition of annual commemoration of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. This important event was launched in 2018 by Oleh Durmasenko, father of the fallen Hero of the Russian-Ukrainian war, "cyborg" Oleksiy Durmasenko, together with Taisiia Bratasiuk and Dmytro Prymachenko.

We thank all the participants and organizers of the race! 

Glory to everyone who supports Ukraine!