Heroes mini sculpture and the Day of the National Flag

Today is the Day of the National Flag in Ukraine. Blue-yellow flags can be seen everywhere in the streets of our cities, people wear traditional Ukrainian embroidery (vyshyvanka) or clothes in the colors of our flag.

A lot of our flag will be in my post today as well. It is dedicated to the heroes who gave their lives for our independence. BTW, The Independence Day of Ukraine is tomorrow, August 24th.

Heroes mini sculpture appeared in March 2024. It is a part of the project "SHUKAI!" that was introduced long ago by a big lover of Kyiv Yulia Bevzenko. Every mini-sculpture has its story, in Ukrainian and English. You can learn it by scanning the QR code.

If you follow me long enough, you know that I used to share the stories of Kyiv in mini-sculptures together with Sonia, my small red-haired doll smiling and eating ice cream. But today is just me.

This is the first time that the sculpture does not have a single patron, all the sponsors united to present a mini-sculpture dedicated to modern Ukrainian freedom fighters. All funds that they collected were transferred to the humanitarian project of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "On the Shield" that searches for the bodies of missing soldiers for everyone return home. With the shield, or on the shield.

The mini sculpture is installed pretty low on the wall on purpose. To look at it, you have to kneel down and thus honor the fallen heroes.

The location is one of the most famous historical places in Kyiv called Askold's Grave. Once there was a prestigious necropolis destroyed during the Soviet era. Askold is a semi-legendary Varangian prince of Kyiv (860-882). According to the chronicle, Prince Oleg came with his army to Kyiv in 882 and killed Askold.

There is a small church and a bell tower surrounded by a beautiful park. It is a peaceful and quiet place.

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Stela Ilovaisk - Debaltseve - DAP (Donetsk Airport, in memory of cyborgs) reminds of the war that Russia started against Ukraine in 2014. The three stones remind of three tragic pages of the period 2014-2022.

Four new burials appeared here during the time of Independent Ukraine. These burials initiated the public discussion of creating our pantheon of heroes - the National Military Cemetery. They are:

• Hero of Ukraine: Oleksandr Klitynskyi, one of the Heavenly Hundred, a participant in the Revolution of Dignity.
• Hero of Ukraine, Dmytro Kotsiubailo call sign Da Vinci, commander of the 1st Mechanised Brigade Da Vinci Wolves.
• Knight of the Order of Danylo Halytskyi, Mark Gregory Paslawsky, Ukrainian from New York, was a soldier of the Donbas battalion of the NGU, died in the Battle of Ilovaisk.
• Knight of the Order for Courage of the Third Class, Andrii Pilshchykov call sign Juice, a Ukrainian military pilot.

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Two memorial plaques are installed at the entrance to the chapel located under the bell tower.

Hero of Ukraine, marine Vitalii Skakun who died on the day of the full-scale invasion on 24.02.2022. He blew up the Henichesk bridge at the cost of his own life to prevent the advance of the Russian occupiers.

Denis Antipov, teacher of the Korean language. Later, lieutenant of air reconnaissance of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade. Died on May 11, 2022 near Izyum in Kharkiv region.

It got me thinking about life's values and beliefs and committing to them. There is always a choice - to give up or fight back, to find an excuse or to find a way. Do or die. They deserve to be remembered. But we must also be worthy of them because our struggle for freedom and independence continues.

'Keep Calm and Carry On'