Border Guard Day

(Above: the Border Guard Singers)

For those not in the know, Ukrainian Day of the Border Guards is celebrated every May 28. And there is always a big production with awards, singing and dancing. Which, by necessity, the law enforcement liaison officers from the Embassies are invited to attend. This year was a command performance as President Yanukovych made an appearance. He gave a nice speech praising the BGs reform, including project managed by yours truly. So I was extremely pleased. Slightly less pleased, though, that he appearance pushed back the time of the event. After almost 2 hours of the Border Guard dancers and singers presenting a pastiche of historical songs about the border from WWII on (in honor of the 65th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day), I had to leave by 5:30 PM. I also noticed many of the performances were the same as last year. I guess you can only find so many songs that involve the word border, huh.
I did take pictures of the president, but I haven't figured out my new camera, so they are dark and blurry. I've enclosed the best one, and I apologize for its awfulness!

And below is a video of the art piece they do that represents trafficking in persons. I am a big fan of the camoflauge and mesh look.