Kiev, May 22, 2018
Photo from the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church On Sunday, May 20, the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine took part in an official ceremony honoring the memory of the victims of political repression in Ukrainian history, reports the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
He was accompanied by His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary, His Eminence Archbishop Jonah of Obukhov, and a number of clergymen.
The event was held on the territory of the National Historical-Memorial Reserve “Bykovnyasnkie Graves.” The Bykovnyansky Forest is the site of the largest mass grave of political victims in Ukraine. The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs buried those shot and tortured there in the 1930s and 1940s.
Photo from the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church President Petro Poroshenko and representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, Verkhovna Rada, and various religious organizations also took part in the event, honoring the victims of political repression with a minute of silence and flowers and lampadas placed at victims’ graves.
Photo from the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church “We are now celebrating the 80th anniversary of the mass political repressions of 1937-1938. Due to the incomprehensibly large scale, which has not been accurately established so far, this crime of the Communist totalitarian regime is called a Great terror,” Poroshenko said during his speech, reports the president’s official site.
Photo from the site of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Ukraine celebrates the victims of political repression every year on the third Sunday of May, as established by presidential decree on May 21, 2007. In addition to honoring the victims, the day draws society’s attention to tragic events in Ukrainian history.
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