Co-founder of the OUN, Konovalets, to be Reinterred in Ukraine; His Remains Have Already Been Exhumed in the Netherlands
In Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the exhumation of the remains of Colonel of the UPR Army, one of the founders and the first head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Yevhen Konovalets, has been carried out. His ashes will be returned to Ukraine and reinterred at the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
The exhumation ceremony took place on August 11 at the "Crooswijk" cemetery, where Yevhen Konovalets was buried after his death in 1938. This was reported by the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Organizational issues were handled on behalf of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy by Kyrylo Budanov and the team of the Office of the President, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha and the MFA team, as well as the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Oleksandr Alfyorov.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Head of the Office of the President Iryna Vereshchuk, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Netherlands Andrii Kostin, Oleksandr Alfyorov, representatives of the Ukrainian community in the Netherlands and Plast, the Ukrainian Rifle Community of Canada, and the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada. Clergymen of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church were also present.
Where Yevhen Konovalets Will Be Reinterred
After the ashes are returned to Ukraine, Yevhen Konovalets will be buried at the National Military Memorial Cemetery. A farewell ceremony is planned to be held at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the UGCC in Kyiv.
The date of the ashes' arrival in Ukraine, the holding of the farewell, and the reinterment are not currently being announced. The Office of the President promised to provide further details later.
What Is Known About Yevhen Konovalets
Yevhen Konovalets was born on June 14, 1891, in the village of Zashkiv near Lviv. He was a colonel of the Ukrainian People's Republic Army and commanded the Sich Riflemen Corps — one of the most combat-capable units of the UPR Army.
After the end of the Ukrainian Revolution, Konovalets continued the struggle for the state's independence in exile. In 1920, the Ukrainian Military Organization was created with his participation. In 1929, at the founding congress in Vienna, Konovalets was elected the first head of the Leadership of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.
Konovalets also tried to draw the attention of the international community to the situation in Ukraine and raised the Ukrainian issue at the League of Nations, particularly speaking about the Holodomor of 1932-1933.
On May 23, 1938, Yevhen Konovalets died in Rotterdam as a result of an operation by Soviet special services. Agent Pavlo Sudoplatov handed him a box of chocolate candies with an explosive device. After the assassination, Konovalets was buried at the "Crooswijk" cemetery at the expense of the Lithuanian consulate in the Netherlands.
It will be recalled that earlier, the remains of the head of the moderate wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-M), Andrii Melnyk, along with his wife, were reinterred at the National Military Memorial Cemetery. This event was condemned by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Holocaust memorial complex Yad Vashem.
Based on materials from: Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance
