Memorial Trees: Oaks of Remembrance Line National Military Memorial Cemetery Near Kyiv

The National Military Memorial Cemetery of Ukraine, which opened just three months ago, has already become a resting place for hundreds of soldiers from various units.

In the cemetery’s columbarium lies the decorated soldier of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, Valeriy Semenov, a recipient of the Order For Courage (3rd Class).

Semenov was an experienced nuclear physicist who survived the occupation of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant – an experience he spoke about in the Kyiv Post studio. After the occupation ended, he mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and repeatedly commented to Kyiv Post on the situation at the front, including the Vuhledar direction.

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Relatives of the fallen organize their own memorial practices to honor their loved ones – an unusual practice for necropolises in Ukraine.

The cemetery administration and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs accommodated the families of fallen fighters of the National Guard’s Azov Brigade and other brigades who wished to plant an alley of oaks along the road leading to the cemetery.

A total of 56 oaks were planted which, according to the organizers, will become the beginning of a long-term memorial route along the central road of the National Military Memorial Cemetery. Each family has received their “own” oak in memory of their fallen loved one, with a tag attached bearing his call sign.

“We are now, it turns out, your neighbors,” say the relatives of one of the fallen Azov fighters to an elderly couple covering the base of their tree with soil. For them, this has now become an act of commemoration.

“We planted oak saplings – part of the future Oak Alley in honor of the fallen warriors. The trees that will grow and strengthen over decades and centuries will become a living symbol of remembrance and a reminder of the price of freedom for the Ukrainian people,” the Ministry of Veterans Affairs notes.