Story perspectives

Ukraine Grants Military Honors to Melnyk Couple

5/25/2026

Summary

Melnyk Reburial

Decree No. 460 on May 15 2026 ordered a military-honor reburial of Andriy Melnyk and Sofia Fedak-Melnyk at Kyiv’s National Military Memorial Cemetery on May 24 2026.
Their ashes arrived from Luxembourg’s Bonnevoie cemetery on the night of May 21–22 2026 and were placed in Kyiv’s Patriarchal Cathedral.
During the farewell on May 22-23 2026, which featured liturgies, a Parastas and a memorial service on May 23, Auxiliary Bishop Yosyp Milyan and Deputy Head Iryna Vereshchuk praised Melnyk’s role in Ukraine’s national movement.

Summary

Vereshchuk Announces Burial

Deputy Head Iryna Vereshchuk announced the memorial service for Stepan Melnyk and his wife on her official social-media account.
The ceremony was held in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, the principal cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Melnyk and his wife were interred in the Pantheon of Outstanding Ukrainians at the National Military Memorial Cemetery, formally placing an OUN leader among Ukraine’s officially honored figures.

Summary

Melnyk Reburied

Ukrainian officials reburied Andrii Melnyk’s remains in Kyiv in 2026.
Andrii Melnyk led the OUN-M faction after the 1938 split with Stepan Bandera’s OUN-B.
Both OUN factions briefly collaborated with Nazi Germany during World II.
After the Nazis turned hostile, Melnyk was placed under house arrest and later sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Ukrainian officials said the reburial restores historical memory denied under Soviet rule.

Summary

Melnyk Arrives

A convoy with ashes of Andriy Melnyk and Sofia Fedak-Melnyk entered Ukraine on May 21, 2026.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced reburying Colonel Yevhen Konovalets and other figures.
Iryna Vereshchuk said the remains were greeted by flag, anthem, army, schoolchildren and nation.
Soviet archives note Melnyk’s 1957 proposal for a Ukrainian association, later the World Congress of Free Ukrainians in 1967, was the only source reporting his 1964 death via Radio Liberty.

History

Historical Context

In June 1941 the OUN under Andriy Melnyk proclaimed a Ukrainian state and cooperated with Nazi Germany, which occupied Kyiv on 19 September 1941. OUN militias and the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police helped execute the Babi Yar massacre of 33,771 Jews. The 2026 reburial of Melnyk and his wife, announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky, signals Ukraine’s reassessment of that alliance.

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Melnyk Reburial

Decree No. 460 on May 15 2026 ordered a military-honor reburial of Andriy Melnyk and Sofia Fedak-Melnyk at Kyiv’s National Military Memorial Cemetery on May 24 2026.
Their ashes arrived from Luxembourg’s Bonnevoie cemetery on the night of May 21–22 2026 and were placed in Kyiv’s Patriarchal Cathedral.
During the farewell on May 22-23 2026, which featured liturgies, a Parastas and a memorial service on May 23, Auxiliary Bishop Yosyp Milyan and Deputy Head Iryna Vereshchuk praised Melnyk’s role in Ukraine’s national movement.

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