Kyiv, Ukraine - The anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was celebrated in Kyiv this year by small crowds of elderly people gathering at various places around the city.

One group assembled in downtown Kyiv and placed flowers at the foot of a monument to Lenin that remains standing 9 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Waving the red Soviet flags and singing songs, they reminisced and yearned for the "good old days" of communism. But the celebrations were far from festive, and the dark overcast sky and misty weather only added to the dampened moods.

The government cancelled the official holiday this year, and industry, government offices and schools were open for business as usual. Except for an increase in police patrols it was hard to tell that this was once the most important holiday of the year.