This article, originally published in the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on Sept. 28, 2024, has been republished by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here.
Vira Lytvynenko has been unable to properly lay her son to rest since March 2022, when he was killed defending Ukraine against a Russian offensive near the Mariupol Drama Theater. Instead, she keeps his ashes at home. Despite being in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion and over 10 years since the war began, Ukraine still does not have a national military cemetery. This neglect has caused many veterans and their families to feel that their sacrifices are not being respected. It’s as if there were no equivalent of Arlington National Cemetery in the United States – a sacred space for remembrance and a powerful symbol of national gratitude. Ukrainians long for a similar space to honor their soldiers.
“The state should have provided the best possible honoring of its fallen… there are certain sacred and infallible things in society. Civilian cemeteries are already running out of space,” said Taras Ishchyk, a current member of the Ukrainian military.
Instead of transparently constructing a national memorial cemetery, the authorities have dragged out the selection of a site, proposing locations far from Kyiv. The design and tendering process has been plagued by scandals and corruption, further diminishing the significance of soldiers’ sacrifices.
Vladyslav Lytvynenko, Vira’s son, was a soldier with Ukraine’s Azov Brigade. He was from Donetsk Oblast and lived in Mariupol until 2014, when Russia’s war in Ukraine’s Donbas region and annexation of Crimea forced his family to move to Kyiv. In 2015, Vladyslav returned to Mariupol and joined Azov, where he fought in several battles.
“In 2022, he (Vladyslav) was supposed to leave the army and start a civilian life, because he hadn’t experienced it as an adult, having been fighting since he was 20,” Vira said, her eyes filling with tears. Vira is just one of many families waiting to honor their fallen. According to Olena Tolkachova, the head of the Azov Patronage Service, which cares for the brigade’s soldiers and families, the service has been advocating for a national military cemetery since 2014.
“We have a family who is so hopeful for this particular (military) cemetery that they did not take the body out (of the morgue),” Tolkachova said. “And they are already in such a very depressed state because the cemetery has not been built in two years.”
But despite the urgency, there has been little progress. Local regions have been left to bury their soldiers within existing cemeteries, where graves often blend in with civilian ones. It wasn’t until May 2022 that a law was passed to establish a national military cemetery, but even then, the process has been slow and plagued by bureaucratic delays. It’s time for the government to prioritize honoring the sacrifices of its soldiers and provide a proper resting place for those who have given their lives for their country.
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