Yevhen Konovalets was reburied at the National Military Memorial Cemetery
On August 18, a reburial ceremony for Yevhen Konovalets, the first leader of the OUN, took place at the National Military Memorial Cemetery near Kyiv. The remains of the Ukrainian political and military figure were transferred to the memorial cemetery.
The procession was attended by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi, Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy Iryna Vereshchuk, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk and his deputy Olena Kondratyuk, Minister of Veterans Affairs Vitaliy Kim, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sibiga, Acting Minister of Defense Yevhen Khmara, and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Vygivskyi.
The President delivered a speech and thanked the patriots who “have preserved the memory of Konovalets for decades” and all those for whom “the return of Colonel Konovalets to Ukraine was a matter of honor.”
“Konovalets knew that a strong state requires a strong army, and he was the organizer of the Ukrainian military, whose valor continues to inspire all our soldiers to this day. Unfortunately, Ukraine was unable to establish itself at that time; there was a lack of unity, a lack of wisdom among the political leaders of the day, and a lack of ability to build genuine ties with the world. But Ukraine’s time has come; independence has been restored, and we have defended Ukraine’s right to be itself. And no one will ever remove the blue-and-yellow flags from Kyiv again—only our state, and only Ukraine, will choose its own national path,” the Ukrainian president declared.
Oleksandr Alferov, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, reported on the results of examinations—including CT and MRI scans—of Konovalets’ remains following their return to Kyiv.
According to him, the MRI results confirmed the presence of a skeleton and made it possible to visualize the remains. Alferov noted that they now plan to reassemble them. He also recalled that Konovalets died as a result of an explosion carried out by a Russian agent.
According to Alferov, Konovalets was buried in a wooden coffin, inside which was a metal coffin with a small window so that he “could see how he would be reburied and return to Ukraine.”
This was reported on Tuesday, August 18, by hromadske.
Earlier, a memorial service was held in Kyiv for Colonel Yevhen Konovalets of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (UNR) Army.
As a reminder, on August 14, a farewell ceremony for the founder of the Ukrainian Military Organization (UVO) and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), and commander of the Sich Riflemen Corps, Colonel Yevhen Konovalets, took place at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
The remains of Yevhen Konovalets, a colonel in the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the first head of the OUN, were brought to Ukraine.
As a reminder, a historic reburial of Colonel Andriy Melnyk of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, head of the OUN, and his wife, Sofia Fedak-Melnyk, took place at the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
