will also mark six months since Russia invaded the former Soviet republic, in a devastating war that has cost thousands of lives.
The capital Kyiv has already announced a ban on public gatherings. Kharkiv too, declared a curfew around the holiday."Russia could try to do something particularly disgusting, particularly cruel," he warned late Saturday."One of the key objectives of the enemy is to humiliate us," and"to sow despondency, fear and conflict".
"They hate us and will try to increase... the number of bombings of our cities including Kyiv with cruise missiles," Mr Podolyak added.War with Russia is entering a new phase, says Ukraine's foreign minister "We will not allow any provocation by the enemy. Be as vigilant as possible during our independence holiday," Mr Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram.