On the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine, August 29, the National War Memorial Cemetery (NWMC) was opened in the Kyiv region between the villages of Hatne and Markhalivka. The first five servicemen have already been buried. The graves belong to unknown defenders.
Points of attention
- The National War Memorial Cemetery in the Kyiv region of Ukraine was opened on August 29 to honor the unknown defenders of the country, with the first servicemen already laid to rest.
- The cemetery faces opposition from local residents due to concerns about environmental risks and potential flooding of the graves, but government officials assure that proper drainage systems are in place to prevent any issues.
National War Memorial Cemetery opened in Kyiv region
The country's leadership, including Volodymyr Zelensky, the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky, the Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko, and the Minister of Defense Denys Shmyhal, arrived for the grand opening. As well as relatives of the military who plan to bury their relatives here.
A year of storage in the Kyiv crematorium, and then the urn with the ashes is at my house waiting for this event. There are a lot of families in our community who do not have bodies from Mariupol, they may never receive them. And there must be a place here for relatives to come and pay their respects, — says the mother of a soldier of the Azov regiment, Vira Litvinenko.
According to Minister of Veterans Affairs Natalia Kalmykova, this cemetery is the first phase with a total of 6,000 grave spaces. A second phase is also being built.
There are already 360 columbarium places provided for urns with ashes. More will be added in other stages. Here, the state takes care of burials entirely at its own expense. And taking care of the graves will also be the state's responsibility. Starting today, relatives can already start processing documents for burial here — in this place.
The cemetery can be reached by a special bus, which will depart from Teremki at odd hours every day, and from Hatne at even hours. The bus will also have a tour guide who will tell people about the history of the memorial complex, as well as the history of Ukraine in general.
During the opening of the military memorial cemetery, Minister Kalmykova was also asked whether it was legal and safe to build this cemetery in this particular location, to which the government official replied:
Here, as throughout the country, there is groundwater, it is normal. To avoid any questions, a drainage system has been laid under all the paths here. All these paths are at a depth of 2.5 meters to 3 meters, which are working. And if you go and look into the grave now, it is absolutely dry.
In the village of Markhalivka, Kyiv region, local residents protested against the opening of the National War Memorial Cemetery, the Support Markhalivka organization reported.
The military and activists have repeatedly stressed that the burial in the chosen location, between the villages of Hatne and Markhalivka in the Kyiv region, threatens an ecological disaster. The land plot has a problem with high groundwater. The graves will be flooded, and this poses a threat to 12 villages in the Kyiv region.
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