Roman Shukhevych’s burial site ascertained

On Oct. 13 the solemn inauguration of a memorial to Roman Shukhevych, commander in chief of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, took place on a steep bank of the river Zbruch, a kilometer from the village of Hukiv in Chemerivtsi raion (Khmelnytsky oblast). Until now nothing was known about the legendary UPA general’s final resting place. About a year ago the residents of Hukiv noticed a wooden cross that had been erected literally overnight. General Shukhevych was killed in a shootout with NKVD men in a suburb of Lviv. Anticipating that his gravesite would become a place of pilgrimage, the NKVD took the body somewhere. In March 1950 a 1.5-ton truck carrying Shukhevych’s body stopped on a bridge spanning the river Zbruch. Later, one of the men involved in moving the body recounted that the truck developed a problem with the engine, and the legendary general’s body was removed from the truck and placed on the riverbank. In his twilight years this man decided to make an anonymous act of repentance by erecting a cross and providing details of Shukhevych’s “interment” to the appropriate authorities. “A burial mound was made on the site and topped with a huge granite cross,” Serhiy Mutka, deputy head of the Chemerivtsi regional state administration, told The Day, adding that during the excavations a number of munitions dating from WWII were unearthed: “In the summer of 1941 pitched battles were fought in the area. Nearby is a grave of an unknown soldier. Participants in the ceremonial march placed flowers at the foot of this grave, too.” It is hoped that the Oct. 13 action will be another step toward reconciling WWII and UPA war veterans. Mutka said that there are differing opinions concerning this sorrowful discovery.