On October 28, Ukraine marks the 82nd anniversary of the expulsion of the Nazi occupiers. In 1944, the Red Army’s offensive was coming to an end along the western borders of present-day Ukraine. However, the historical trials for our people did not end there. Fighting continued in November, millions of Ukrainians did not survive World War II, and the return of Soviet rule not only postponed the achievement of independence.
UNN explains today how the Nazis were expelled, why historians have doubts about October 28 as the date, and what price Ukraine paid.
The commemorative date was established by a 2009 decree of President Viktor Yushchenko under the official name "Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders." However, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINM) recommends a different wording — "the expulsion of the Nazi occupiers from Ukraine." They explain that this more accurately describes the events, since the disappearance of the Nazi occupation administration did not bring political freedom to Ukrainians.
How the Nazi troops were expelled from Ukraine
World War II began on September 1, 1939, with Germany’s attack on Poland. Part of the Ukrainian lands was already in the combat zone at that time. In June 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. Over the following year, German troops and their allies occupied the entire territory of present-day Ukraine. The establishment of the occupation regime was accompanied by mass executions, forced labor, looting, and the destruction of entire settlements.
The Red Army’s first attempts to launch a counteroffensive ended in failure. After the defeats of Soviet troops near Kharkiv and in Crimea in 1942, the situation remained critical. The turning point came in 1943. Following the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, Soviet forces launched a large-scale offensive. On August 23, 1943, Nazi troops were finally driven out of Kharkiv; in the autumn, the Battle of the Dnipro began, and on November 6, the Red Army captured Kyiv.
In 1944, the fighting moved to Right-Bank Ukraine, the south, and the west of the country. The Dnipro–Carpathian offensive opened the way to the western regions; on April 10, the Nazis were expelled from Odesa, and in May, the fighting for Crimea ended. On July 27, Soviet troops entered Lviv. In the autumn, the offensive continued in Zakarpattia: on October 27, they occupied Uzhhorod, and the following day reached Chop.
Millions of Ukrainians took part in the defeat of Nazi Germany. They served in the Red Army and the armies of other states of the anti-Hitler coalition, and operated in underground and partisan units. A separate chapter was the struggle of members of the Ukrainian liberation movement, including the UPA, who opposed the Nazi occupation while also seeking to establish an independent state.
Why October 28 is considered the day of liberation
October 28 is often presented as the day the Nazis were finally expelled. However, according to the UINM, on that day in 1944 Soviet troops merely reached Chop and began fighting for the city. In some parts of Zakarpattia, hostilities continued until November 25–26. Therefore, the date has commemorative significance but does not coincide with the actual completion of the expulsion of the occupiers from the territory of Ukraine within its present-day borders. The confusion is also connected with changes in borders. In 1944, Zakarpattia was not yet part of the Ukrainian SSR: the region was annexed to Soviet Ukraine in 1945 under an agreement with Czechoslovakia. Therefore, October 8 initially appeared in the Soviet tradition, and later the commemoration was linked to the October battles in Zakarpattia.
Despite historians’ debates, Presidential Decree No. 836/2009, which established October 28 as a commemorative day, remains in force.
The price of victory: millions of Ukrainians killed and a devastated country
According to estimates cited by the UINM, Ukraine’s direct human losses in World War II amounted to approximately eight million people: about three million military personnel and five million civilians. It should be noted that this refers to people connected with Ukraine, of various nationalities, not only ethnic Ukrainians. The exact figures remain the subject of historical and demographic research.
The overall demographic losses were even greater. According to estimates published by the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, they amounted to approximately 10.4 million people, including about 2.4 million children who were never born because of the war.
Among the most horrific crimes of the Nazi regime was the Holocaust. In the occupied territory of Ukraine, hundreds of Jewish communities were destroyed, and historians estimate that the number of Jews killed reached approximately 1.5 million. Babyn Yar in Kyiv became one of the symbols of this crime. Roma, prisoners of war and other population groups were also subjected to mass persecution and murder. More than two million people from Ukraine were deported for forced labor in the Third Reich.
The war also destroyed the country’s economic foundation. According to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, approximately 700 cities, 28,000 villages and 16,000 enterprises were damaged or destroyed as a result of hostilities and punitive operations.
Did the expulsion of the Nazis bring freedom to Ukraine
The removal of the Nazi regime meant the end of its policy of terror in Ukrainian lands. However, Ukraine did not gain state independence. Its territory once again came under the control of the USSR, where one-party dictatorship, censorship and a punitive system remained in place. The return of Soviet rule was accompanied by repression against real and alleged opponents of the regime, as well as checks on former prisoners of war and forced laborers. In May 1944, the Soviet authorities deported the Crimean Tatar people from Crimea. In the western regions, the confrontation with the Ukrainian underground continued, with mass arrests and the expulsion of families. The postwar famine of 1946–1947 brought new human losses.
That is why historians now distinguish between the expulsion of a specific occupier and the liberation of a state. As the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory emphasizes, Ukraine gained the ability to determine its political future independently only after declaring independence on August 24, 1991.
The Second World War and the Russo-Ukrainian War: parallels and differences
After the start of Russian aggression, the history of the Second World War took on new meaning. The occupation of Ukrainian cities, the killing of civilians, the forced displacement of populations and attempts to impose a controlled government recall the danger posed by the violent deprivation of people’s right to their own state.
Russian propaganda actively exploits the memory of victory over Nazism, portraying the current aggression as a fight against alleged "Nazism" in Ukraine. Historians warn against this approach: the memory of the victims of the Second World War cannot serve as a justification for a new invasion.
How Ukraine commemorates those who fell and suffered 82 years later
October 28 remains an official day of remembrance, but its contemporary interpretation is increasingly linked to the stories of specific people.
In Ukraine, military graves and memorials are preserved, archives are studied, family testimonies are collected, and history remembrance lessons and thematic exhibitions are held. The commemoration honors both frontline soldiers who survived and the civilians who were killed, Holocaust victims, "Ostarbeiters" and those who lived through the occupation.
An important part of this work has been the rethinking of Soviet symbols and formulations. The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory emphasizes that the contribution of Ukrainians to the victory over Nazism can be remembered without reproducing the myth of a single "victor people" and without concealing the crimes of the Stalinist regime.
In 2026, the anniversary falls during a new war for Ukrainian independence. It reminds us that behind every date on the calendar are people’s lives, and that victory over one occupying regime does not guarantee freedom forever.