Ukraine Establishes a New National Holiday for February 5th

State Special Transport Service Day

According to Главком: President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has issued Decree No. 14/2025, officially establishing an annual State Special Transport Service Day to be celebrated every February 5th. This service, which operates under the Ministry of Defence, was originally formed in 2017. The new holiday recognizes the agency's critical role in maintaining the security and operational efficiency of Ukraine's transportation networks, a function of heightened importance in the current context.

International Days and Historical Events

Beyond this national observance, February 5th is also marked by several international days. These include:

• World Read Aloud Day, held on the first Wednesday of February. This initiative was launched by the organization LitWorld in 2010 to promote the importance of reading aloud for child and adolescent development.
• World Nutella Day, which was started by blogger Sara Rosso in 2007. Nutella is a popular chocolate-hazelnut spread, first created by confectioner Pietro Ferrero in 1946 under the name 'Supercrema'.

In the religious calendar, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of Saint Agatha on this date. Born into a wealthy Sicilian family in the 3rd century, she was martyred in prison around 251 AD. This feast day holds deep significance, particularly within the Revised Julian calendar.

February 5th is also the anniversary of several notable historical events, including:

• The founding of the Dormition Stauropegion Brotherhood in Lviv in 1585.
• The crucifixion of 26 Japanese Christians in Nagasaki in 1597, ordered by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
• The ascension of Charles XIV John to the thrones of Sweden and Norway in 1818, following the death of Charles XIII. He was formerly the French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.
• The patenting of the kinematoscope in Philadelphia in 1861.
• A major academic ball held in Lviv in 1913, attended by all Ukrainian academic societies of the time.

The date is also associated with various folk beliefs and weather omens in Ukrainian tradition. For instance, a frosty February 5th is thought to foretell an early and warm spring. Heavy snowfall on this day may indicate a bountiful and favorable summer for farming, while squirrels leaving their nests suggest a coming thaw, and a lack of snow could signal a dry summer.

Consequently, February 5th in Ukraine will now be a day that combines a new national professional holiday with international celebrations, religious commemorations, and significant historical anniversaries. The establishment of State Special Transport Service Day underscores the institution's vital contribution to national security and infrastructure, while also aiming to raise public awareness of its functions within the country's transport system.