Ukrainian war veterans have put up in Kyiv a monument featuring a huge stone sword piercing a map of Russia.
The war veterans unveiled the monument, which is situated at the intersection of Kyiv’s Lesya Kurbasa and Akademika Koroleva avenues, on Aug. 15. It honors Ukrainian soldiers who have died in eastern Ukraine fighting against Russia’s proxy forces in the Donbas.
The 2.5-meter-tall sword stabbing through the map of Russia symbolizes the eventual victory of Ukrainian soldiers over Russia, which in 2014 started a war against Ukraine, veterans’ representatives said.
The image on the pedestal is a redesigned illustration of the archangel Tyrael, a character in the Diablo game series. Its author is an artist from London Toby Lewin; his work was presented at the Blizzcon Festival competition in 2011, where it took third place.
At least 2,710 Ukrainian soldiers and 10,000 civilians have been killed in Russia’s war in Ukraine, which the Kremlin started in April 2014. The war claimed the lives of at least 28 soldiers in June alone.
“(We built the monument) in honor of those who are fighting now, and those who are no longer with us,” Sergii Manukyan, a veteran and one of those behind the erecting of the monument, told Ukrainian TV-channel 1+1.
The monument cost around $4,500, with the money being collected by the Ukrainian veterans and volunteers.
Soldiers from the Aydar, Donbas, and Azov battalions also attended the unveiling ceremony for the monument.
Kyiv Post staff writer Denys Krasnikov can be reached at [email protected].
