According to 2011 According to the census data, about 16,423 Ukrainians lived in Lithuania. Statistics Lithuania announces 2016 At the beginning of the 17th century, 17,679 Ukrainians lived in Lithuania. Ukrainians are the fourth largest national minority in Lithuania. Most Ukrainians live in Vilnius (7,159), Klaipėda (4,652), Kaunas (1,906), Šiauliai (875), Visaginas (1,583) and Jonava (431). Many of them belong to 13 operating organizations in Kaunas, Klaipėda, Jonava district, Panevėžys, Šalčininkai, Šiauliai, Vilnius, Visaginas.
HISTORICAL INTERFACES. The beginning of Lithuanian-Ukrainian relations dates back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the invitation of Duke Gediminas, artisans and merchants from present-day Ukraine came to Lithuania. From there originated the Great Lithuanian Emon, the Trakai Voivode, the Constantine Ostrogiskis of Vilnius, famous for the battles of Sluck (1507), Kemenec (1512), Orsha (1514). Important to both nations in 1596. Then the Brest Ecclesiastical Union, a treaty of the Union of Orthodox and Catholic Churches of the Commonwealth of Nations, formed an Eastern Catholic Greek Catholic or Unitarian community. Since the 16th century pb. these rites were typical of the inhabitants of Ukrainian lands. There were temples, monasteries and seminaries.
EDUCATION. The first Sunday school in Ukraine, which was operating outside the Ukraine in Soviet times, was established in 1989. In Vilnius. Currently, the school has branches in Klaipėda and Visaginas, and the Vilnius Sunday School under the Holy Trinity Church in Vilnius is being reopened. Sunday schools not only teach the mother tongue and culture, but also talk about cultural relations with Lithuania.
THE MEDIA. 1989-1993 Ukrainian newsletter “Пролісок” (“Snow White”) was published in Lithuania in 1993. In Klaipėda – “Слово та голос” (“Word and Voice”), since 2000. The Holy Trinity Church of Vilnius publishes “Парафiяльне слово” (“Word of the Parish”). Since 1995 The LRT Culture Channel broadcasts once a week a 15-minute Ukrainian-language program “Trembita” (“Трембита”). Along with Ukraine’s “Channel 5”, the LRT Culture Channel broadcasts news from Ukraine daily in Russian on the news program “Knowledge. Ukraine”.
MEMORY DAYS. Lithuanian Ukrainians 9-10 March celebrates the days of Taras Shevchenko; January 22 – Ukrainian Independence Day and Unity Day; June 28 – Constitution Day of Ukraine. On August 24, 1991, when the state declared its independence, Ukrainian Independence Day is celebrated. Much attention is paid to the Holodomor events in Ukraine.
RELIGION. 2011 There were 9,708 Orthodox (Orthodox) and 2,243 Ukrainians belonging to the Catholic religious communities living in Lithuania. They celebrate Christmas and Easter according to the Julian calendar. According to the census of the same year, 185 Old Believers and 139 Greek Catholics lived in Lithuania. Four Greek Catholic religious communities were active.
DISHES. On the Ukrainian table – borscht, flour and meat products: sausages, boiled and stewed pork, bacon with various vegetables. Popular porridge: wheat, peas, pumpkin, potatoes. Sweet dishes are made with plums, apples, pears, apricots, cherries, strawberries, currants, strawberries, blueberries, honey, poppies and nuts. The relationship between Ukrainian and Lithuanian cultures is shown by traditional Ukrainian dishes on the Lithuanian table: borsch, gals – soup with toppings, kopustniak – a thick and oily cabbage soup.
