Institute of National Memory: Konovalets to be buried in pantheon

Oleksandr Alferov at the grave of OUN founder Yevhen Konovalets in Rotterdam. Photo: Alferov’s Facebook page

The remains of OUN founder Yevhen Konovalets will be reburied in Ukraine’s national pantheon. The nationalist leader’s remains have already been exhumed in the Netherlands on the president’s instructions for transfer to Ukraine, head of the Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alferov reported.

Specialists exhumed the body of the OUN founder at Crooswijk Cemetery in Rotterdam. Oleksandr Alferov personally observed the procedure in his capacity as an official observer. Representatives of the Ukrainian War Veterans Association of Canada and the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada also took part. The organizations had cared for the OUN leader’s grave in previous years and transferred responsibility for his remains to the Institute of National Memory.

Konovalets’ remains will initially be buried temporarily at the National Military Memorial Cemetery and later transferred to the pantheon. The gravestone from his Rotterdam burial site will be brought to Ukraine for use in creating a new memorial, while the former grave site in the Netherlands will also be memorialized.

The return of Konovalets’ remains continues the state program of reburying historical figures, following the recent exhumation of the remains of another OUN leader, Andrii Melnyk, and his wife.

As the UOJ previously reported, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the creation of a pantheon on the grounds of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

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