Dumenko: It is our duty to establish a National Pantheon of Heroes

Leader of the OCU Epifaniy Dumenko. Photo: OCU

On July 14, 2026, OCU head Epifaniy Dumenko spoke of the need to establish a National Pantheon of Heroes during the “consecration” of a memorial to Hetman Ivan Mazepa at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

Dumenko claimed that virtually no burial sites of prominent figures from Ukraine’s past have survived.

“Note that there is practically not a single grave of our glorious ancestors. There are no princes, no hetmans – they are either scattered around the world, or their burial places have been destroyed altogether,” the OCU head said.

According to him, one of the state’s tasks should be to return the remains of historical figures buried outside Ukraine and create a place for their reburial. Dumenko also called for the National Pantheon to commemorate present-day servicemen defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

As previously reported by the UOJ, Dumenko called for the Lavra to be developed “as a shrine for all Christians.”

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