Remains of 20th-century military leader Yevhen Konovalets exhumed for reburial in Kyiv

On August 11, the President's Office announced that the remains of the influential 20th-century military leader and politician Yevhen Konovalets were being exhumed in Rotterdam for reburial in Ukraine. Konovalets co-founded the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) in 1929, during the period following Ukraine's defeat in the 1917-1921 War of Independence, which saw the division of the country between the Soviet Union and Poland.

From his exile, Konovalets led the fight for Ukrainian independence, seeking foreign support and warning of Russia's expansionist ambitions.

Tragically, in 1938, an undercover Soviet agent working to infiltrate the OUN assassinated Konovalets in Rotterdam. The killer presented the leader with a box of chocolates laced with a bomb. Konovalets' remains were laid to rest in Crooswijk Cemetery, and his reburial ceremony, as reported by the President's Office, was attended by government officials, members of the Ukrainian diaspora in the Netherlands, and clergy from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The final resting place for Konovalets will be the National Military Memorial Cemetery near Kyiv, the exact date of which remains unspecified.

Konovalets' repatriation was followed by that of Andriy Melnyk, another key 20th-century military figure who led the OUN-M, a faction of the original OUN formed after Konovalets' assassination. The return of these historical leaders is part of Ukraine's broader effort to establish a National Pantheon to honor its heroes from the past and present.

However, officials involved in the project say that the list of honored individuals is not yet officially compiled; only a procedural guide exists to be used once the relevant legislation passes.