It looks like Ukraine is going to get its own version of the world-famous Arlington Cemetery, where hundreds of thousands of American combatants of various wars found their final resting place.
Ukraine’s government on Sept. 24 approved a draft bill to create a national military burial complex, which would be reserved for those killed in battle while defending their country and war veterans.
Now the bill will be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, for its consideration.
The bill was drafted at the request of Oleksiy Chernyshov, the minister for the development of communities and territories.
“The project aims at perpetuating the memory and organizing honorable burials and reburials of those who had fought for Ukraine’s independence in the 20th century,” the official said.
“Military servicepersons killed in action, war veterans, persons disabled in war, or those who achieved outstanding merits to the nation. In Ukraine, the National Memorial Military Cemetery will serve as the last resting place not only for the most distinguished heroes but also for all Ukrainian warriors who fought for Ukrainian independence in various periods of history.”
He added that such memorial grounds are common in the U.S., Canada, France, Poland, and other countries.
The official did not mention any potential location for the memorial cemetery.
Today, Ukrainians killed at war are usually buried by their families at a civilian cemetery of their choice.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry For Veterans Affairs, over 370,000 individuals acquired a veteran status for their participation in the Russian-sponsored war in Donbas that has been on since 2014. Nearly 4,000 Ukrainian combatants, both military service members and volunteering fighters, were killed in action in Donbas.
In general, upon various estimates, there are nearly 1 million individuals, former combatants of various conflicts starting from World War II, still living in Ukraine.
Since 2018, Ukraine also admits a combat veteran status of former fighters of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the nationalistic guerilla force that was active mostly in western Ukraine in the 1940s and 1950s fighting against Nazi Germany and Soviet forces, although it was also involved in the ethnic cleansing of civilian Poles and Jews.
