Ukraine: On unity day, flags convey endurance, defiance

By LORI HINNANT
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Flags celebrated survival, endurance and above all, defiance on a day Ukraine’s president had called for displays of unity. A pair of human chains grasped a blue and yellow banner along the edge of a stadium field in Kyiv. Other hands clutched tiny flags individually, and one Ukrainian flag made it onto an Olympic podium in China. British and American intelligence officials had predicted that with more than 130,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia might invade Ukraine on Wednesday. Russia denied plans to invade its neighbor. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tempered his call for unity with skepticism that Feb. 16 marked anything other than yet another day Ukraine faced threats of aggression.