A mighty choral work worthy of any great stadium or concert hall – we delve into the lyrics and history of Ukraine’s national song.

‘Shche ne vmerla Ukrainas’, the national anthem of Ukraine, has just one verse and one chorus – but it remains one of the world’s mightiest patriotic songs.

It was formally adopted less than three decades ago, following the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

While formally known as the ‘State Anthem of Ukraine’, it also goes by its native title ‘Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy’, which translates into English as ‘Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished’.

The rousing melody we hear today was officially accepted in 1992 by Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

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Ukraine’s national anthem was adopted after its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine’s national anthem was adopted after its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Picture: Getty More than 10 years later, the official lyrics were set after then-president Leonid Kuchma proposed a law in 2003.

He wanted priest and composer Mykhailo Verbytsky’s music to be the vehicle for Ukrainian poet’s Pavlo Chubynsky’s patriotic poem, ‘Šče ne vmerla Ukrajina’, with some adjustments to the first verse.

Instead of the poet’s original line ‘Ukraine has not yet died, neither her glory, nor her freedom’, the anthem goes, ‘Ukraine’s glory has not yet died, nor her freedom’.