Remains of OUN leader Andriy Melnyk, his wife returned to Ukraine

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, the ashes were transported from Luxembourg to the Ukrainian border with Slovakia, where they were met by local veterans, lyceum students, members of the Plast scouting organization, as well as representatives of authorities and clergy.

The remains will now be taken to Kyiv for further ceremonies and reburial.

During the ceremonial reception in Zakarpattia, members of Plast placed soil from Krasne Pole – the site of the historic defense of Carpathian Sich fighters of Carpathian Ukraine – on Melnyk's coffin.

Earlier, on May 19, an official transfer ceremony took place at the Bonaventure Cemetery in Luxembourg, where the remains of Melnyk and his wife were handed over to the Ukrainian side for reburial.

Earlier reports said that Ukraine had launched work on creating a Pantheon of Outstanding Ukrainians. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the initiative primarily focuses on returning historical figures to Ukraine – individuals who played a fundamental role in shaping Ukrainian national consciousness and statehood. Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Oleksandr Alfyorov stated that the process of creating the Pantheon of Outstanding Ukrainians is planned to take years, but work on the project is already underway.

Andriy Melnyk was a prominent 20th-century Ukrainian military and political leader. He served as a colonel in the Ukrainian People's Republic army and was closely associated with Yevhen Konovalets. He later became a leading figure in the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which he headed from 1938 to 1964 following Konovalets’ death.

After World War II, Melnyk lived in exile in Luxembourg, where he continued political and organizational work within the Ukrainian diaspora. He died in 1964 in Cologne and was buried in Luxembourg.

Photo credit: Tetiana Kohutych / Ukrinform

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