President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the reburial ceremony at the National Military Memorial Cemetery of Colonel of the Ukrainian People’s Republic Army and Head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Andriy Melnyk, and his wife Sofia Fedak-Melnyk.
The ceremony was also attended by the Third President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, Minister for Veterans Affairs Nataliia Kalmykova, members of parliament, service members, and representatives of civil society.
“Now, when we are on Ukrainian soil, under our Ukrainian flag, to the sound of our Ukrainian national song, paying tribute to our Ukrainian heroes, we feel in our hearts everything through which Ukrainians have been forced to pass, everything our people have had to endure,” the Head of State said.
The President noted that Andriy Melnyk had returned to a free, strong, and proud Ukraine – the one he had dreamed of.
“He has returned to a Ukraine that will not falter. To a leading Ukraine. To a Ukraine that has become long-range and far-sighted. He has returned to a Ukraine that will surely live in peace. To a Ukraine that the world no longer merely wishes to see on the political map, which in itself is already significant, but a country that nations of the world want to see as their friend, which is the greatest achievement in our history,” the Head of State said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the return to Ukraine of prominent Ukrainians buried abroad had been discussed for years, and that today marks the first step in this direction.
“We have already begun work to bring Yevhen Konovalets home, along with many other such Ukrainians. It is highly symbolic that our Ukrainian heroes of today, who have torn Ukraine out of Russian hands in this full-scale war – who have taken it back forever – will rest alongside Ukrainians of previous generations who also worked to ensure that Ukraine would be what it is, that Ukraine would be itself, that Ukraine would be free,” the President said.
The Head of State thanked everyone involved in establishing the Pantheon of Ukrainian Heroes.
“Together with Kyrylo Budanov and the team of the Office of the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Ukraine, and all those involved, we are now giving great meaning to a word that is often spoken and must carry its full weight – the word respect, respect for Ukrainian heroes,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
The President also honored the memory of Ukrainian warriors buried at the National Military Memorial Cemetery and laid flowers at their graves. Over 300 Ukrainian defenders are buried there, more than 200 of whom remain unidentified. The first burials took place here in August 2025 in the presence of the Head of State.
Background. The Ukrainian National Pantheon is a multifunctional memorial, cultural-historical, and landscape complex intended to preserve Ukrainian state-building traditions. The Pantheon will be the final resting place of prominent Ukrainians who made an exceptional contribution to Ukraine’s independence and statehood. It will include honorary burial sites, memorial compositions, spaces for commemorative ceremonies, and a museum area.
