Memorial for the victims killed by OUN-UPA (Luhansk)

The monument dedicated to the "Luhansk victims of the OUN-UPA" is a statue located in Luhansk, Ukraine. The monument was unveiled in 2010 under the direction of city deputy Arsen Klinchaev and in association with the Party of Regions in a park in the center of Luhansk. The monument is adjacent to the Soviet memorial to the World War II underground resistance group, The Young Guard. The monument has been described as provocative and a distortion of history.^[1][2]

Monument description

The monument consists of a figure tied up mother whose eyes are closed and his hands pulling the child and protecting their man whose hands are tied with rope. The inscription on the arch above the monument reads: “In memory of the victims of fascism and nationalism,” whereas beneath is a slab engraved with a dozen names belonging to those killed. The monument also has inscribed the phrase "The truth should not be forgotten".^[3]

History

The monument was unveiled "To People Of Luhansk Who Perished From Hands Of Nationalist Chasteners From OUN-UPA".^[4] The initiative for the monument came from city deputy Arsen Klinchaev, founder of the “Museum of the Victims of Orange Revolution”. According to this local politician, a memorial is necessary so that everybody learns about the crimes of the OUN and UPA, who allegedly "acted in a more bestial manner than the fascists.”^[5] When a provisional memorial was unveiled, a placard was attached to the stone and displaying a dove pierced by a sword with a swastika.^[6] Klinchaev stated the following as the memorial's function:

“School students will be coming to the memorial […] and we will be telling them about the Young Guard fighters, about the victims of OUN-UPA, and about the genuine veterans of the Great Patriotic War […] The youth must know the real state of affairs even after a few generations.^[7]

At the unveiling of a similar monument in Svatove, Luhansk oblast in 2008, the vice-Mayor of Luhansk, Yevhen Kharin stated,

"The war is not over, the war continues. It is cruel and dirty. It has been waged for the souls of our children and grandchildren, whose parents and grandparents lie in graves."^[8]

The monument was finally opened on May 9, 2010.

See also

• The shot in the back (monument)

References

1. ^ http://lugansk.comments.ua/article/2010/05/13/093445.html
2. ^ http://mignews.com.ua/ru/articles/24531.html
3. ^ Жителям Луганщины, павшим от рук карателей-националистов из ОУН-УПА
4. ^ http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/66171/
5. ^ “V Luganske v skvere VLKSM poiavitsia pamiatnk zhertvam OUN-UPA,” April 17, 2008, http://cxid.info/49263.html, accessed on September 2, 2008.
6. ^ “U Lulahnsku znyscheno pmyatnyk zhertvam OUN-UPA,” April 24, 2008, http://testukr.obozrevatel.com/ news/2008/4/24/193446.htm, accessed on August 11, 2008.
7. ^ Elena Kopteva, “Orientirovochnaia stoimost’ pamiatnika zhertvam OUN-UPA – 500 tys. griven,” Nasha Gazeta (Lugansk), May 8, 2008, http://nashagazeta.com.ua/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=508, accessed on August 22, 2008.
8. ^ “Na Luhanschyni vidkryly pamyatnyi znak ‘zhertvam OUN-UPA, zahyblym na L’vivschyni’,” June 26, 2008, http://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/504706, accessed on August 30, 2008.