Ukraine marks Independence Day with military parade

Ukraine Sunday marked its 23rd Independence Day with a military parade.

Around 1,500 soldiers marched down the main Khreshchatyk street of Kiev, as thousands of audience, wearing traditional Ukrainian costumes and holding national flags, gathered to watched the event, Xinhua reported.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said at the ceremony that his country may face a "military threat in foreseeable future", pledging to allocate some $3 billion to modernise the country's army, so as to defend national independence.

"We need to learn not only to live with this, but also to be always prepared to defend our country," Poroshenko said.

Ukrainian government officials, parliament members, foreign diplomats were present at the function.

Ukraine won independence from the Soviet Union Aug 24, 1991.