"Wave a flag for Ukraine as it stands strong a year after the Russian invasion"

The flag of Ukraine - with its two colorful panels depicting cloudless azure skies above fields of golden wheat - is the perfect symbol of a proud and independent nation that grows in confidence and hope

Wave the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine (

Image: Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)

In early 2022, most of us would have struggled to identify the Ukrainian flag.

Simple, yet vibrant, its two colorful panels depict cloudless azure skies over fields of golden wheat - the perfect symbol of a proud, independent nation growing in confidence and hope.

But on February 24 of last year, the Ukrainian state flag took on a much broader meaning.

He had become a symbol of freedom and challenge for all countries in the world.

And we pinned it to our chests and to our social media profiles to show our solidarity with a nation embroiled in a war we were praying would be over by summer.

Twelve months after the Russian invasion, the skies over Ukraine are now gray with smoke and heavy with the sound of gunfire.

And those fields of golden wheat are dotted with shell craters and littered with the twisted debris of battle.

But although we've removed our flag badges and changed our profile pictures back to normal, the brave Ukrainian is still locked in an endless nightmare and desperately fighting for his national identity.

It is therefore fitting that the first anniversary of the war was celebrated so visibly around the world.

We need to look back on Ukraine's year of suffering, as it helps us focus on the future.

As President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week, painful war memories “leave deep scars in your heart and soul.”

But, he added, "They remind us of how far we've come from February to February.

"We have not broken down, we have overcome many hardships and we will overcome. We will hold accountable all those who have brought this evil, this war on our land.

"Russia has chosen the path of the murderer. The path of the terrorist. The path of the torturer. The path of the looter.

"The state will be responsible for the terror committed."

And hailing their "furious year of invincibility", the remarkable and charismatic leader told his people that victory is achievable THIS year.

Ukraine will never let a white flag fly in the sky above this glorious land.

So it's time for the world to help them defend the blue and yellow of freedom.