“This is not an official holiday, but in Lviv it is celebrated every year”, – WRITE: www.radiosvoboda.org
The walk began with the monument to Stepan Bandera through the central part of the city and to the field of honorary burials, where Ukrainian soldiers were buried, who gave their lives during a full -scale invasion of Russia and also near the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
During the march, its participants stopped at the monuments to prominent Ukrainians. In particular, the composer, the author of the anthem of Ukraine, Father Mikhail Verbitsky, poet, artist Taras Shevchenko.
“The Ukrainian hero is a patriot who diverged and diverges the best fate of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian state. This story has passed and present for the future. It is necessary to support those who are in defense of the region and to honor those who have made every effort to stop the enemy in the past and do the same thing our brothers now, so that the future generation lives happily, ”says the military chaplain Yaroslav Voitas of the 710th Separate Brigade.
The march was attended by war veterans who were injured, servicemen, youth organizations, native prisoners of war, dead, without the missing fighters. The warriors carried portraits of the dead brothers.
“The hero is a person who does the most for his country, not only fights but also does in civilian life what will further develop the country and win. Of course, the guys who are fighting now are Ukrainian heroes. And this march is a march of support for those who in the war, as well as a reminder of those who gave their lives in the past, and these are Sich shooters, UPA soldiers, ”says march participant Andrew.
From the morning to the graves of Ukrainian defenders, their parents, wives, children come to the graves of Ukrainian defenders.
On May 23, the Heroes Day was not accidental – May 23, 1938, a Ukrainian colonel, OUN creator Yevgeny Konovalets, and Enkavedist Sudoplatov was killed in Rotterdam. Also on May 3, 1924, the ideologist of Ukrainian statehood Nikolai Mikhnovsky was found hanged in the garden, that is, he died in contradictory circumstances. And on May 25, 1926, the Chief Ataman of the UNR Simon Petliura was killed in Paris.
The idea of the feast of heroes emerged in the environment of Ukrainian nationalists. For the first time, this day was introduced by a resolution of the Second Grand OUN fee, which took place in April 1941 in Krakow.
Since 1991, heroes have been celebrated in the western territory of Ukraine and it has been spreading other cities every year. It is a holiday of the Ukrainian military tradition and honor of the heroism of Ukrainian soldiers at different times of history. It is not an official holiday, but in Lviv it is celebrated every year.