In Truskavets, on Independence Square, a peaceful vigil was held in memory of Ukrainian servicemen and civilians who were killed in captivity. The event was timed to the Day of Remembrance for those executed and tortured in captivity, and to the fourth anniversary of the terrorist attack in Olenivka.
Families of prisoners of war, the missing and fallen defenders, children, veterans, representatives of the clergy, city and district authorities, as well as volunteer and civic organisations took part in the event. At the beginning, a joint prayer was led by the parish priest of the Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin, Father Volodymyr Bondarchuk.
The peaceful march was organised to mark the anniversary of the shelling of the Volnovakha penal colony in the settlement of Olenivka on the night of 28 to 29 July 2022. Defenders of “Azovstal” were being held in the colony; more than 50 Ukrainian defenders were killed there. Children who joined the event held placards with the surnames of the prisoners of war who died in Olenivka.
Joining the participants were the Mayor of Truskavets Andriy Kulchynskyi, Head of the Labour and Social Protection Department of the Drohobych District Military Administration Svitlana Mamenka, a specialist from this department Marta Davydova, as well as individual deputies of the Truskavets City Council.
“Every loss and every death in captivity is a wound for all of us. Because Olenivka is a war crime that must never be forgotten. It is precisely this memory that will allow us in future to convey, word for word, everything that happened,” noted Marta Davydova.
After the part on Independence Square, participants moved in a column to the Avenue of Glory. There another joint prayer was held, after which all who wished lit candles in memory of the fallen defenders.
The peaceful vigil was organised by the BF “Volonterym razom” together with the Truskavets City Centre for Social Services, the organisation “Volonteryky Kolo Dobroty” and the NGO “Zvilnyty vsikh”. Photographs from the event were provided by the Drohobych District Military Administration.