Konovalets temporarily reinterred at Kyiv cemetery

Reburial of Yevhen Konovalets’ remains. Photo: president.gov.ua

President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in the reburial ceremony for the remains of OUN founder Yevhen Konovalets. The ceremony was held at the National Military Memorial Cemetery in Kyiv, though the Presidential Office stressed that the burial is temporary, the Office of the President of Ukraine reports.

Konovalets’ remains were officially reburied in Ukraine on August 18, 2026. The liturgical part of the ceremony was led by UGCC head Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who celebrated the Liturgy and served a memorial service over the coffin containing Yevhen Konovalets’ remains.

The Presidential Office explicitly stated that the present burial is only an interim stage. Once the Ukrainian National Pantheon is established, Colonel Konovalets’ remains will be transferred there. Work is already underway to create the site for the burial and reburial of “the most outstanding figures in the history of Ukraine.”

Addressing those present at the ceremony, Zelensky said that Colonel Konovalets’ fate was both heroic and tragic and had become a symbol of an entire era in Ukrainian history. The president also thanked representatives of the diaspora for preserving the memory of the OUN figure and safeguarding the memory of Yevhen Konovalets and his burial place for decades.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Cabinet of Ministers had approved the creation of a pantheon on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The Kyiv ceremony was not the first such reburial of OUN figures at the National Military Memorial Cemetery: on May 25, the remains of OUN leader Andriy Melnyk and his wife Sofia were reburied there as well. Their remains are also being considered for later transfer to the future Ukrainian National Pantheon.

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