Farewell ceremony held in Kyiv for 20th-century Ukrainian military leader Yevhen Konovalets – photos, video
The 3rd Army Corps has held a farewell ceremony for Colonel Yevhen Konovalets, a founder of the Ukrainian Military Organisation (UVO) and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and commander of the Sich Riflemen Corps.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda journalists at the scene; 3rd Army Corps
Details: The ceremony took place at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the first night after Colonel Konovalets' remains were returned to Ukraine.
Quote from Andrii Biletskyi, Commander of the 3rd Army Corps: "Two generations meet here today. Colonel Konovalets represents the generation of the Sich Riflemen, the Black Zaporozhians An elite cavalry formation of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army , and the fighters of the UVO, OUN and Ukrainian Insurgent Army A Ukrainian nationalist resistance force active during and after World War II . We are the generation of the Maidans, the Anti-Terrorist Operation The ATO or Anti-Terrorist Operation is a term used from 2014 to 2018 by the media and the government to identify combat actions in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts against Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists and the full-scale Russia-Ukraine war. Each of these generations inherited the Ukrainian cause unfinished.
We are the first generation with a real chance to break this heavy chain and complete the work of the colonel and all our great predecessors – the struggle for a great, powerful and united Ukraine – so that we no longer have to pass this heavy duty on to our children and future generations."
Details: Konovalets' coffin was brought to the cathedral by an original Austin armoured car dating back to the time of the Ukrainian Revolution, which had been restored by service members of the 3rd Army Corps' repair and recovery battalion.
Outside the cathedral, Konovalets' coffin was met by a guard of honour carrying torches, composed of members of the 3rd Army Corps and the Yevhen Konovalets Military School.
A gun carriage was attached to the Austin armoured car, a gesture traditionally used in Ukraine and Europe as a sign of the highest military honours.
A three-inch gun was also attached to the armoured vehicle – an original 1917 model that had been in service with the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, specifically the Sich Riflemen Division commanded by Colonel Konovalets.
Background:
- Yevhen Konovalets was a key figure in the Ukrainian liberation movement of the first half of the 20th century. He commanded the Sich Riflemen Corps, one of the most combat-effective units of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army, and was a founder of the Ukrainian Military Organisation and the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists.
- In 1938, Konovalets was assassinated in Rotterdam by Soviet intelligence agent Pavel Sudoplatov. The colonel was buried at Crooswijk Cemetery in Rotterdam, with the intention that he would eventually be reburied in his homeland after Ukraine regained its independence.
- On 13 August, the remains of Yevhen Konovalets were brought to Ukraine.
- On 25 May, the remains of former OUN leader Andrii Melnyk and his wife Sofiia Fedak-Melnyk were reburied at the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
- On Constitution Day 2026, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) on establishing a Ukrainian National Pantheon to honour prominent Ukrainians.
- The government approved the establishment of the Ukrainian National Pantheon in the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory will be responsible for developing the project.
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