Ukraine repatriates remains of 20th-century military leader Yevhen Konovalets with state honors
As the founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), Konovalets devoted his life to the cause of Ukraine's independence. He was assassinated by an undercover Soviet agent in 1938.
Ukraine recently returned the remains of 20th-century military leader Yevhen Konovalets with full state and military honors, according to Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy head of the President's Office, on August 13. Konovalets, the founder of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), dedicated his life to Ukraine's independence.
Established in 1929, the OUN emerged during the chaos following Ukraine's defeat in the 1917-1921 War of Independence, which resulted in the country's territory being divided between the Soviet Union and Poland. From exile, Konovalets endeavored to unite Ukrainians in an organized independence movement and sought foreign support, warning of the threat posed by Moscow's expansionism to international security.
In 1938, a Soviet undercover agent, tasked with infiltrating the OUN, assassinated Konovalets in Rotterdam by presenting him with a box of chocolates containing a bomb. Konovalets's exhumation ceremony, attended by government officials, local Ukrainian diaspora members, and clergy from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, took place on August 11 at Crooswijk Cemetery in Rotterdam.
He will be reburied at the National Military Memorial Cemetery near Kyiv. Following Konovalets's repatriation, that of Andriy Melnyk, another prominent 20th-century military leader and head of the OUN-M, which formed after Konovalets's assassination, preceded it. The return of these historical leaders aligns with Ukraine's efforts to establish a National Pantheon to honor its heroes, both past and present.
However, government officials involved in the project have stated that there is no official list yet of which figures will be included, only an established protocol to be used once the bill becomes law.
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