On June 20, Ukraine celebrates the Day of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, World Refugee Day, World Wi-Fi Day and Summer Solstice Day. Over the centuries, this day has repeatedly become the date of decisive battles, landmark state decisions and technical breakthroughs in the world.
The day of establishment of the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
The expert service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was established by the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated June 20, 2000 No. 988. The service was created for the purpose of systematization, professionalization and technological updating of expert work in the law enforcement field. It included specialists who already had considerable experience in forensics, traceology, dactyloscopy, ballistics, explosives, economic and technical expertise. It received the status of a state body with the right to conduct official forensic examinations and research for investigative bodies, the prosecutor’s office, and the court.
In general, the first expert forensic structures in the world are considered to be the “Identification Bureau”, which was created by Alphonse Bertillon in the French police of Surte. It was he who introduced the method of anthropometry — precise measurements of the human body — for the identification of criminals.
The first anthropometric and dactyloscopic offices in Ukraine began to operate as early as 1902 in Kyiv, and from 1904 – already as full-fledged identification bureaus. In the interwar period, regional offices of scientific and forensic examination in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Odesa worked in the USSR, created by a resolution of the RSC of the USSR in 1923. Over time, experts mastered such areas as anthropometry, verbal portraiture, dactyloscopy.
After the revolution, Ukraine began to form its own legal basis for expertise. The Criminal Procedure Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1922 (Article 62) already explicitly provided for such evidence as expert opinion. In these conditions, by the resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR dated July 10, 1923, regional offices of scientific and forensic examination were created in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Odesa, and regulations about them were approved. It was these structures that became the basis for the future network of expert forensic institutions. In those days, no serious investigation was complete without a forensic expert. At that time, experts were called nothing else than “knowing” or “conscious persons” – from the words “to know” and “to know”. These specialists had high authority in the justice system.
Currently, the Expert Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs consists of more than 3,000 specialists, more than 200 types of examinations, thousands of annual trips, participation in high-profile cases, including the documentation of war crimes during the invasion of the Russian Federation. The service has become not only a component of justice, but also a front-line tool — its specialists work in the combat zone, study the sites of airstrikes, identify the dead, and analyze explosive devices.
Interesting facts
The oldest forensic expert institution in Ukraine is the Kyiv Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. Founded in 1913, it has been in continuous operation for over 110 years.
More than 1 million examinations and expert studies are conducted in Ukraine every year — this is one of the highest burdens per capita in Europe.
Ukrainian forensic experts have developed their own software for identifying weapons and fingerprints on shell casings – a national bullet casing library has been created on its basis.
The expert service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is one of the few in the world that has a licensed mobile laboratory for going to the combat zone, capable of conducting dactyloscopy, DNA analysis, traceology and explosives examination simply in field conditions.
Ukrainian experts became the first in Europe to use photogrammetry tools to reconstruct 3D pictures of road accidents with legal evidential force.
After 2022, new areas of expertise have been formed in Ukraine — in particular, detection of falsifications in the registration of property in the occupied territories, analysis of satellite images and decryption of intercepted communications.
More than 70% of forensic experts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are women. In some regions, investigative actions are fully provided by female teams of experts.
There are more than 50 specializations of forensic examinations in Ukraine: from classical traceology, ballistics, psychiatry to economics, ecology, copyright and even analysis of computer viruses.
One of the longest expert reports in Ukraine had more than 1,700 pages — it was a forensic accounting examination in the case of appropriation of state property in the oil and gas sector.
During the period of mass deportation of children from the occupied territories, Ukrainian DNA experts were the only confirmation of kinship for the return of children home.
The expert community of Ukraine cooperates with Interpol, Europol, the US Secret Service, the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and from 2023 – with the Hague Mechanism for war crimes of the Russian Federation.
In certain periods there were even criminal prosecutors. Organizational and methodical work on improving the quality of pre-trial investigation relied on them. They were obliged to go with the investigators to the places of particularly serious crimes, participate in inspections, and ensure the implementation of priority investigative actions. In fact, such a prosecutor did not just supervise, but acted as a methodologist and analyst who contributed to the disclosure of the most complex and socially dangerous criminal cases. Unlike an ordinary supervising prosecutor, a forensic prosecutor was a full-fledged participant in the process of collecting and examining evidence.
World Refugee Day
This day was started by the UN General Assembly on December 4, 2000. The date is timed to the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which enshrined a person’s right to protection when fleeing persecution. This day is not a holiday. It was created to remind of the tens of millions of people who have lost their homes, property, connections and the right to a safe life against their own will. The focus is on the real state of asylum systems, legal insecurity of refugees, challenges of integration, and abuse in host countries.
Ukraine is one of the countries that both receive refugees and generate them.
After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia in 2022, more than 10 million citizens of Ukraine left the country. Most of them have the status of temporary protection, a separate legal category that is neither a permanent residence permit nor a full-fledged refugee.
Ukrainian refugees are a new phenomenon for Europe, the issue of their status, integration or deportation is becoming one of the most acute in EU politics.
Interesting facts
According to the UNHCR, in 2024 the number of forcibly displaced people in the world exceeded 120 million, that is, every 69th inhabitant of the planet, which is a record for the entire history of observations. Of them, 43 million are refugees abroad, and more than 68 million are internally displaced persons.
Ukrainians are the third largest group of refugees in the world, after Syrians and Afghans, and 93% of Ukrainian refugees are women with children, pensioners or people with disabilities.
Only 3% of Ukrainians in the EU applied for refugee status under the Geneva Convention, all the rest under “temporary protection”, which does not give the right to permanent residence or citizenship.
More than 40% of all refugees in the world are children. In the Ukrainian case, this indicator is even higher — more than 50%.
270,000 people live in the Kakauma camp in Kenya – more than in Chernivtsi. The camp has been operating since 1992.
Turkey has accepted more than 3.1 million refugees. It is the largest in the world.
Only 37 countries have official refugee resettlement programs. Ukraine does not have such a program.
World Wi-Fi Day
The initiator of this date was the Wireless Broadband Alliance – an international industry association that promotes the development of wireless networks and new generation communication technologies. This day was held for the first time in 2016 to highlight the role of Wi-Fi in the digital transformation of society.
The idea of creating this day is related to the desire to draw attention to the importance of access to the wireless Internet as a basic digital service. Wi-Fi is seen as an infrastructure not only for everyday life, but also for health care, education, crisis communications, rural development and digital inclusion.
The main topics of this day are overcoming digital inequality, expanding coverage in hard-to-reach areas, Wi-Fi 6 and 7 technologies, energy efficiency of networks and reducing the load on mobile traffic in megacities. Participants of the initiative are equipment manufacturers, telecom companies, municipalities, technological hubs and government structures.
World Wi-Fi Day is not an official UN day, but it covers topics directly related to the Sustainable Development Goals – including access to information, innovation, education and reducing inequality.
Interesting facts
The name Wi-Fi has no technical meaning: it’s just a marketing name created to sound like a hi-fi version.
Wi-Fi technology was patented in 1996 based on Australian scientific developments related to radio astronomy.
The first mass-market Wi-Fi device appeared in 1999 with the AirPort-enabled Apple iBook.
Wi-Fi works in free radio frequencies: they are not licensed and do not require permissions, which made the technology popular.
In 2023, more than 29 billion devices worldwide will use Wi-Fi – more than the entire population of the planet.
Wi-Fi 6 allows data transfer speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps, and Wi-Fi 7 up to 46 Gbps. This is more than 4 thousand times faster than in the first versions.
The world’s largest public Wi-Fi project is in Mumbai (India): more than 8,000 access points located throughout the city.
According to Ookla, the average Wi-Fi speed in Ukrainian cities reaches over 65 Mbps, which is higher than the world average.
Wi-Fi technologies are used in medicine: for wireless cardiac monitors, MRI data transmission, telemedicine in real time.
In smart homes, Wi-Fi connects more than 60% of all devices: from thermostats to surveillance cameras.
On airplanes and trains, Wi-Fi is provided via satellite or LTE relay systems that automatically switch between towers.
Day of the summer solstice
The summer solstice is when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky in the northern hemisphere. This event takes place every year on June 20 or 21. It is on this day that the longest day of the year and the shortest night last. Astronomically, this is due to the fact that the Earth’s axis is tilted at an angle of approximately 23.5° – at the time of the solstice, the northern hemisphere is maximally tilted towards the Sun.
The solstice is not a calendar or holiday event—it is a precise moment determined by the position of the Earth in its orbit. In 2025, the summer solstice will occur on June 20 at 23:42 Kyiv time.
This day has both natural and cultural significance. In ancient times, it meant the turn of the sun – after it, the days gradually shorten. For many peoples, the June solstice was the basis of holidays: it was associated with fertility, growth, purification with fire and water, and harvest rituals. In Ukraine, its echo is the holiday of Ivan Kupala, which is celebrated in July according to the Gregorian calendar, but has its roots in the solstice.
In the modern world, the summer solstice remains an important landmark for astronomers, farmers, tourist sites, as well as for followers of neo-pagan traditions. The event is recorded in all scientific calendars and is used in observing the Earth’s seasonal rhythms.
Interesting facts
At the time of the summer solstice, the angle of incidence of the sun’s rays in Kyiv reaches 63°, and the length of the day exceeds 16 hours.
In Norway, Sweden and Iceland, the sun does not set below the horizon at all on this day – this phenomenon is called “polar day”.
Stonehenge in Great Britain is built so that on the day of the summer solstice the first ray of the rising sun passes exactly through the main axis of the stone circle.
In pre-Christian times, the Slavs believed that on the night of the solstice, nature “opens its forces”, water and plants acquire magical properties.
In ancient agrarian calendars, this was the beginning of the ripening cycle: after the solstice, the return movement to harvest began.
In Rome, the solstice was celebrated as a holiday of the goddess Vesta, the patroness of the hearth.
In Latvia and Lithuania, the summer solstice is still officially celebrated as a public holiday (Ligo, Ioannina), with days off and rituals.
In Finland, during the solstice, tall wooden bonfires (“kokko”) are traditionally set near water bodies – the fire symbolizes purification.
In Japan, during the solstice, rituals of observing the sunrise from the mountain tops are popular, particularly on Mount Fuji.
In the southern hemisphere, at this very moment, it is the opposite: the winter solstice comes and
In 2025, the day in Kyiv on June 20 will last 16 hours and 4 minutes, and the night will last only 7 hours and 56 minutes. After that, the day will begin to shorten.
Historical events on this day
451 — on the Catalaunian fields (modern France), a coalition of Romans and barbarians led by Aetius stopped the Huns led by Attila. This is one of the last great victories of the Western Roman Empire, which stopped the advance of steppe peoples deep into Europe.
1782 — The US Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States, a symbol that will later appear on dollar bills and become the country’s official emblem.
1792 — during the Great French Revolution, a mass uprising against the monarchy took place in Paris: the people stormed the Tuileries Palace, which became a prelude to the downfall of Louis XVI.
1837 — 18-year-old Victoria became the Queen of Great Britain. Her reign, which lasted 63 years, gave its name to an entire historical era – the Victorian era.
1840 — American inventor Samuel Morse received a patent for the electromagnetic telegraph, ushering in the era of instant long-distance communication.
1857 — the British colonial army destroyed the Indian town of Mahua Dabar, slaughtering all the inhabitants (approximately 5,000 people) in response to the sepoy rebellion.
1863 — the first US national bank, the Davenport Bank, opened in the state of Iowa, which became a prototype of the future banking system.
1863 — on the same day West Virginia seceded from Virginia and became the 35th US state during the Civil War.
1867 — US President Andrew Johnson officially announced the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire for $7.2 million.
1895 — the Kiel Canal in Germany was inaugurated, which connected the Baltic and North Seas and shortened sea routes for the fleet.
1933 — the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, created by the forces of Gulag prisoners, was completed. The canal became a symbol of Soviet industrialization and repression at the same time.
1949 — The Pope officially anathematized the communist leaders of Czechoslovakia, a move that marked a bitter confrontation between the Vatican and communist regimes in Eastern Europe.
1963 — The USA and the USSR signed an agreement to establish a direct telephone line of communication between Washington and Moscow (“hotline”) — this was a reaction to the Caribbean crisis of 1962.
1967 — Muhammad Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine for refusing to serve in the army during the Vietnam War. This became an important episode of resistance to conscription in the United States.
1990 — the German parliament decided to move the country’s capital from Bonn to Berlin after German reunification. This meant the restoration of the historical center of political life.
1990 — on the same day, Uzbekistan announced a declaration of state sovereignty — the first step toward future independence from the USSR.
1993 — the first test railway flight between Great Britain and France was carried out through the tunnel under the English Channel. The tunnel became one of the most complex engineering projects of the 20th century.
2003 — the Wikimedia Foundation was created, an organization that ensures the functioning of Wikipedia and other free knowledge on the Internet.
