In the Ukrainian city of Izmail, the refurbished monument to revolutionary poet Hristo Botev was officially unveiled today, even as air raid sirens sounded across the city, BTA reported.

The ceremony, which was held as part of the Day of the Bessarabian Bulgarians celebrations, began with the national anthems of Ukraine and Bulgaria, followed by a minute's silence in memory of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. After the monument was blessed, folk singer Iliya Lukov performed a traditional Bulgarian song honouring Botev, along with national heroes Vasil Levski and Stefan Karadzha.

• Two centuries of longing: The Bessarabian and Tavrian Bulgarians' bond with their ancestral land

The programme was organised by performers from the Izmail Regional Centre for National Cultures, led by Georgiy Chilik, and included Bulgarian songs performed by Sergey Neychev, Feodora Kurteva, Anna Kulachok and the folk vocal ensemble “Harmonia.”

Among the official guests were Marina Denoy, deputy chair of the Izmail District State Administration; Svetoslav Ivanov, Bulgaria’s Consul-General in Odessa; Anton Kisse, president of the Association of Bulgarians in Ukraine; and Ashot Kazaryan, Deputy Culture Minister. A delegation from Dobrich, Izmail’s twin city in Bulgaria, travelled for the event especially.

The ceremony was organised by the Izmail Bulgarian Community “St. Sophia,” chaired by Nikolay Ivanov, and Izmail State University of Humanities, whose rector, Yaroslav Kichuk, oversaw the monument’s site.

The bust of Hristo Botev, crafted by Izmail sculptor Mihail Nedopak, was first unveiled on 20 March 1978, becoming the first monument to the poet-revolutionary on present-day Ukrainian territory. Botev’s name is indelibly linked to Odessa, Izmail, Bolgrad and Zadunaivka. In Izmail, he taught from 1869 until the spring of 1871. His memory remains alive in modern Ukraine, with Bulgarian communities paying homage to him annually.