His Beatitude Sviatoslav Presides Over Panakhyda During the Reinterment of Colonel Yevhen Konovalets
On August 18, the remains of Yevhen Konovalets—a colonel in the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, commander of the Sich Riflemen, founder of the Ukrainian Military Organization, and first head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists—were reburied at the National Military Memorial Cemetery near Kyiv. The memorial prayer was led by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Panakhyda during the reinterment of Yevhen Konovalets. Photo: hromadske
The ceremony was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, government officials, military officers, clergy, and public and political figures.
The coffin containing the colonel’s remains, draped in a blue-and-yellow flag, was solemnly carried to the burial site by military personnel. After the Ukrainian national anthem was performed, the Panakhyda began, led by His Beatitude Sviatoslav together with bishops and clergy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Bishop Ephrem (Khomyak) of Vasylkiv, Vicar of the Kyiv Eparchy of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, also joined in the memorial prayer. The Panakhyda was accompanied by singing by seminarians of the Kyiv Three Saints Theological Seminary.
After the prayer, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed those present. He described the colonel’s reinterment as an event of national significance and a restoration of historical justice. “Colonel Konovalets has returned to the Ukraine for which he fought and which he envisioned—a strong, sovereign, and independent country,” the Head of State emphasized. The President noted that Yevhen Konovalets’ life was simultaneously heroic and tragic, and he assured those present that Ukraine would work to return other distinguished Ukrainians who fought for its freedom to their native soil.
Following the memorial service and burial, His Beatitude Sviatoslav performed the rite of sealing the coffin. After the ceremony concluded, the President of Ukraine personally greeted the Head of the UGCC and the clergy and thanked them for their joint prayer.
Background
Yevhen Konovalets returned to Ukrainian soil 88 years after his death. On August 11, 2026, his remains were exhumed from the Crooswijk Cemetery in Rotterdam, and on August 13, they were repatriated to Ukraine, where they were received with state and military honors.
The colonel’s remains will be temporarily interred at the National Military Memorial Cemetery. Once the Ukrainian National Pantheon is established, they are to be transferred there.
Yevhen Konovalets dedicated his life to the struggle for an independent Ukrainian state. He was killed on May 23, 1938, in Rotterdam as a result of a special operation carried out by Soviet intelligence services.
The ceremony at the memorial cemetery concluded the prayerful farewell to the colonel, which began in Rotterdam and continued at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kyiv.
On August 11, during the exhumation of Yevhen Konovalets’ remains at the Crooswijk Cemetery in Rotterdam, a Panakhyda was led by Bishop Ihor Rantsya of the UGCC Eparchy of St. Volodymyr the Great in Paris.
On August 14, the coffin was transported to the Patriarchal Cathedral in Kyiv, where memorial services were held over the course of several days. On August 16, His Beatitude Sviatoslav presided over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy and Panakhyda before the colonel’s coffin. On the same day, Bishop Josyf Milan, concelebrating with bishops and clergy of the UGCC, celebrated a memorial Liturgy and the funeral.
The UGCC Department for Information
