This week in history

Feb. 26 1878: The trial of a group of noted Galician public figures, among them Ivan Franko, Mykhailo Pavlyk, and Ostap Terletsky, begins in Lviv.

1993: Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice registers the Rukh Popular Movement.

Feb. 27 1965: The wide-body An-22 (Antei) aircraft developed by the Oleg Antonov Design Bureau in Kyiv makes its maiden flight.

1995: The Ukrainian Postprivatization Business Relief Center opens in Kyiv.

Feb. 28 1654: Jan II Casimir, the king of Poland, issues a decree urging the Zaporozhian Host to remain loyal to the Rzeczpospolita.

1920: The commander of the Soviet Southwest Front orders the creation of the “frontline rear support service,” which is tasked with combating the peasant insurgent movement in Ukraine.

Feb. 29 1924: The CC of the RCP (B) prepares a circular listing the tasks of local party organizations in aid of the Donbas.

1944: Nikolai Vatutin, a general of the Soviet Army and commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, is mortally wounded when he is ambushed by UPA soldiers (he dies on April 15, 1944).

March 1 1944: Large-scale renovation work starts on Khreshchatyk Street in Kyiv.

1996: Regular Kyiv-London-Kyiv bus routes are established.

March 2 1993: The president of Ukraine signs an edict founding the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine.

1994: For the first time in their history Ukraine and Japan sign a framework agreement “About Cooperation on the Liquidation of Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine and the Creation of a Committee for Cooperation.”

March 3 1866: A Russian public library is founded in Kyiv (today: the National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine).

1919: The Russian Socialist Federal Republic signs the Peace Treaty of Brest, which recognizes Ukraine’s national independence.