On October 28, teachers and students of the Faculty of Greek Philology and Translation of Mariupol State University took part in a grand celebration on the occasion of Охі Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Ukraine from Nazi invaders, which was held in the Greek cultural centre "Meotida".

Охі Day is celebrated in all countries of the world which have a Greek communities. On October 28 1940, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini issued an ultimatum to the Greek government to allow Italian troops to occupy Greek territory, to which the Greek people unanimously replied "No" ("ОХІ") and took up an unequal struggle with the enemy.

Traditionally, at the beginning of the event, the anthems of Greece and Ukraine were played. The Consul General of Greece in Mariupol Grigorios Tassiopoulos, Chairman of the Federation of Greek societies of Ukraine Oleksandra Protsenko-Pichadzhy, Chairman of the charitable organization "Bumbouras Foundation" Panteleimon Bumbouras and Vice-rector for scientific and pedagogical work of MSU, associate Professor Iryna Petrova addressed the audience with a welcoming speech.

The participants noted the heroism of the Ukrainian and Greek peoples, who courageously opposed the fascist invaders and defended their right to live in a free country, and observed a minute of silence in memory of those killed in World War II and those who today give their lives defending the independence of Ukraine.

The concert program consisted of the performances by pupils of the preschool group of the Mariupol Greek Society, students of the music school, Mariupol secondary schools No. 8 and No. 47, Greek dance groups of the Mariupol Greek society, school No. 8 and the exemplary male ensemble of the Greek dance "Zorba". MSU students prepared performances under the guidance of teachers-philologists from Greece EfI Makri and Argiris Nikas.