Ukraine has received permission to reburial Yevhen Konovalets
Ukraine has received official permission to exhume the remains of Yevhen Konovalets, a colonel in the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, commander of the Sich Riflemen, and founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, who is buried in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
This was announced by Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Head of the Office of the President.
According to her, preparations for the reburial are already underway.
“Next will be Yevhen Konovalets; he is buried in Rotterdam. We already have permission, we are preparing, and we will carry out the reburial in the near future,” Vereshchuk noted.
She added that this is not just about individual historical figures of the 20th century, but about a broader process of repatriating Ukrainian figures from various eras.
Key points of the initiative:
- The reburial of prominent Ukrainians from abroad is proceeding systematically
- the process covers figures from various historical periods—from the Kievan Rus’ era to the 20th century
- decisions regarding each reburial will be made separately at the government level
The head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Oleksandr Alferov, reported that work is currently underway to repatriate the remains of about a hundred more historical figures.
At the same time, officials declined to comment on whether the reburial of Stepan Bandera is being considered.
As noted, in June 2025, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the procedure for reburial at the National Military Memorial Cemetery of prominent fighters for Ukraine’s independence in the 20th century. Work is also underway to establish a National Pantheon, which is to define the criteria for the burial of distinguished Ukrainians in the future.
The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists announced that it is considering the reburial of Symon Petliura and Stepan Bandera in Ukraine.
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, Sofiia Fedak-Melnyk. Representatives of the public and government, including Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Vereshchuk, attended to pay their respects.
