Monuments belonging to the Melnik family are being returned to Ukraine
Plans are underway to move the headstone from the grave of OUN leader Andriy Melnyk in Luxembourg to his native village in the Lviv region. Discussions are also ongoing regarding the reburial of his wife’s mother, Sofia Fedak-Melnyk, at Lychakiv Cemetery. The decision was made following a series of family reburials and discussions on the preservation of historical heritage.
A decision has been made in Europe and Ukraine regarding the historical memory of the family of one of the leaders of the Ukrainian national movement, as the tombstone from Andriy Melnyk’s grave in Luxembourg is set to be dismantled and transported to his native village in the Lviv region, where it will be preserved as part of a museum space.
This was announced by Bohdan Chervak, head of the OUN and representative of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, who explained that this is not merely a technical relocation of the monument, but an attempt to gather historical elements of the family’s heritage in a single location that holds both museum and symbolic significance. According to him, the tombstone, created by Ukrainian sculptor Hryhorii Kruk, has not only memorial but also artistic value, so a political decision was made to transfer it to the village of Volia Yakubova in the Drohobych region, where the Andrii Melnyk Museum is located and where it will be preserved in the future.
At the same time, negotiations are ongoing regarding the reburial of Melnik’s wife’s mother, Sofia Fedak-Melnik, at the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, where part of the Fedak family is already laid to rest; according to Chervak, this decision is currently viewed as a matter of timing and organizational arrangements.
At the same time, the OUN representative confirmed that following the upcoming reburials at the National Military Memorial Cemetery and the subsequent establishment of the National Pantheon of Heroes, appropriate references to the original burial sites will be preserved, a provision to be enshrined in law.
On May 23, a central memorial service was held at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church for OUN leader Andriy Melnyk and his wife, Sofia Fedak-Melnyk.
Ukrainian intelligence has declassified KGB archival documents regarding the long-term surveillance of OUN leader Andriy Melnyk.
At the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kyiv, the coffins containing the remains of Colonel Andriy Melnyk of the Ukrainian People’s Republic Army, leader of the OUN, and his wife, Sofia Fedak-Melnyk, have been placed on public display for public tribute.
