On November 21, Ukraine marks the Day of Dignity and Freedom. On this day, nine years apart, two defining events of modern Ukrainian history began: the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Revolution of Dignity in 2013.
We spoke with Yuriy Tanasiychuk, CEO of the “April” volunteer foundation and the legal company “April Consult”, about dignity, freedom, and resilience – despite all the turbulence our country has faced.
— Yuriy, what do the words “Dignity” and “Freedom” mean to you in the context of November 21 and in general?
— November 21 is one of the pivotal points in our history. Yet, freedom and dignity are certainly more than a single day in a year. Dignity includes freedom – freedom of choice, freedom of action – but dignity is a more complex freedom and a more complex choice.
Dignity is a completed action: it either exists or it doesn’t, just like freedom. But if freedom always leaves the right to choose, dignity compels you to act in order to preserve it. That’s how I see it conceptually, historically, and fundamentally.
The dignity of a state, of a nation, historical dignity – this is about choosing a path that may be more dangerous, more risky, but more true, even when the choice is difficult. And yes, in our history, there were times when freedom was lost situationally, but dignity was not, and because of that, freedom returned. Because once dignity is lost, freedom likely cannot be regained.
If we look at the modern 30-year history of Ukraine, this difficult but dignified path includes the two revolutions – the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity. It includes the beginning of the war in Donbas in 2014 and the full-scale invasion – the bloodiest in Europe in every sense.
When they want to swallow you, destroy you, erase you, trample you as a country and a nation – this is also a question of challenge and dignity. The dignity of a nation whose people unite to defend their right to be, to remain themselves. This is what dignity is. And we are proving that we have it – very heavy, deeply earned, with a difficult fate, but it is ours. It sustains society, it sustains sovereignty, and ultimately, it protects the Ukrainian language from complete internal erosion by the “moskal” dialect.
— Dignity is also about action. What motivates you to continue volunteering since 2014? What keeps you going?
— In reality, it’s simple. First: since 2014, I have also been a father. And it is very important for me that my children see what their parents do and how they act in difficult situations. This includes the war – staying in Ukraine, being here, acting. This matters. And this is something only long-term, consistent volunteering gives – not situational, not one-off, but volunteering as a path.
I resonate deeply with the East Asian idea that “a samurai has no goal; a samurai has a path.” I believe we are walking such a path now. In volunteering, there are many small goals, but overall, it is a difficult road – a demanding one.
Second: I want to live in a significantly better Ukraine. Not in words, not in tears, not in lamentations about how things don’t work. I simply want to be part of this better country. And I see both our community and myself as part of this better side.
Third: there is a historical and ideological purpose. Today’s volunteering is primarily about resistance and about inflicting a potential historical defeat on russians. Each of these points keeps me going without emotional burnout when things get hard, and without chasing medals or accolades, which, unfortunately, often corrupts volunteering in our society.
I remember 2018-2019, when most movements grew quiet. I enjoyed working with the Special Operations Forces – as in the song by Riffmaster: “quietly came, quietly left.” We quietly supplied technical equipment to help our fighters counter the terrorist sabotage groups who called themselves “militias.”
Working with real warriors, targeted work – it brought satisfaction, the feeling that we were creating history together. Maybe small, maybe unwritten, but real.
It’s the same now: found something, dug it up almost from underground, delivered it, passed it on – the work gets done. And you feel strong because you’re doing it for a great purpose.
— What has been your greatest admiration and your greatest disappointment in recent years?
— Admiration for people, and disappointment in people. This repeated itself in 2022. With the emotional rise of the nation, there was hope that the period of total unity would last as long as possible. It turned out differently.
There was hope that a large part of society had finally changed – that people would truly stop giving bribes, especially during war, not just talk about it. But those hopes did not fully materialise, and much went in circles again. Yet still, we have changed. Definitely.
And now we have simple, clear tasks: work a lot, work well, earn a decent income, and from that income allocate whatever possible to strengthen our army. Even if the army were fully supplied, it would still be important for society to go further, adding faith, strength, and energy to our soldiers.
So: work diligently, donate, support the army, abandon all “moskal” infections – including their language, including rituals and customs imposed on us as if they were Ukrainian. And build a successful Ukrainian society and a successful country.
This war has shown that Europe, even in 2025, still does not treat Ukraine as a full partner – not politically, not economically. And the U.S., as we now see, also changes its stance quickly depending on who is in power.
That is why it is strategically important that, working on ourselves, we strengthen our dignity and self-respect, and demand respect from others, even from partners. The price Ukraine has paid from 2014 to 2025 is something no European country has experienced since World War II. The intensity of artillery fire in this war is incomparable even to battles once described as “hell” during WWII.
We have a moral right to demand. And yes – we also have the right to make mistakes, but we must identify and correct them. We have the moral, political, and historical right to affirm ourselves as an equal partner of the European continent. And this is my hope, my dream – to be a drop in this ocean I dream of. I don’t need any other ocean.
— Speaking of mistakes, “Mindich”, and money. And about the Winter Thousand – is it a support or a handout? What should people do if they feel disillusioned?
— My position regarding the Winter Thousand: if I had the power (sarcastically speaking), I would return Tymoshenko’s thousand as well, and donate all of it to the technical needs of the Ukrainian Defence Forces.
For the middle class, for self-sufficient people with a strong sense of dignity, it is easy to simply refuse any “support” or handouts that likely have goals other than supporting society during a difficult winter. But I think that the right, dignified approach is this:
Apply for the Winter Thousand, receive it, and direct it to volunteer foundations for technical equipment for various units of the Armed Forces, National Guard, Security Service, and Border Guards of Ukraine.
We must understand that receiving this thousand and sending it to the front is our manual control of a portion of our taxes and a portion of Western financial aid. This lets us bypass all the “Mindich-type” people and that entire ecosystem of Soviet/post-Soviet corruption.
Regarding Mindich, I believe that investigative actions should lead to charges for a large group of people – top officials, lower-level but powerful executors, directors, and managers involved in these schemes. We’re talking about potentially hundreds of individuals who implemented these huge corruption schemes. I hope they will face fair punishment under the Criminal Code of Ukraine. And I hope investigators will be strongly protected, both by Ukrainian law enforcement and by our international partners, pressing the political establishment to see this case through.
To these top-corrupt officials and their helpers, I sincerely wish that they spend their remaining days not only in penitentiary institutions but also in deep moral exile. That would be a fair consequence for the blow they, as internal enemies, have delivered to Ukraine’s sovereignty.
— And finally: your wishes for this day.
— Our generation has lived through – and is still living through – difficult but historically defining periods. We have all changed immensely. Despite our weaknesses, we have grown much stronger. We must remember this and continue on this path. Only this way, unfortunately, can we finally push out that homo sovieticus, that Soviet parasite in our minds, actions, and habits.
I deeply believed the Orange Revolution would happen. As a student, I attended various camps, trainings, and round tables. I believed Ukraine could carry out a revolution – even when many people my parents’ age doubted it, despite having lived through the Revolution on Granite.
Later, in November 2013, I thought we had made so many mistakes that a second revolution – the Revolution of Dignity – would be impossible. I lived with that thought for four or five days after the brutal beating of students on Maidan Nezalezhnosti. I remember it well. I took part in the million-strong rally in Kyiv and returned home thinking everything was too bleak. Thankfully, that thought didn’t live long and turned into strength, which allowed us to start building the country anew in 2014.
Today, Ukraine’s statehood faces an enormous threat. We have not yet resolved it. The future of Ukraine – whether it will exist at all – is not yet decided. These are not big words. It is the truth.
And this future can be decided either within the ranks of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, or every day for the Defence Forces of Ukraine. One single, reliable method.
I appeal to society with the words of our great Lesya Ukrainka:
“With no hope, yet still, I hope.”
Work every day – with your hands, your thoughts, your resources – for the Defence Forces of Ukraine. Together, we must deal a devastating, total, painful, and righteous blow to our murderers, executioners, and rapists. This will preserve our statehood and establish justice. This will be about freedom and dignity. Only this way.