During a working visit to Lviv, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets met with Mayor Andriy Sadovyi and viewed the “Place of Hope” installation on Rynok Square. After familiarising himself with the project, the Ombudsman proposed expanding the Lviv initiative and installing similar markers in other cities across Ukraine.
The “Place of Hope” installation is a wooden chair that “awaits its Hero”. Around it are more than 450 tokens bearing the names of defenders who are in captivity or considered missing. The idea is that when a person returns home, their token can be removed.
Mayor Andriy Sadovyi stressed that the wind, swaying the tokens, creates a symbolic chime and constantly reminds people of those whom their loved ones are waiting for. This place has become an important space of support for the families of service personnel whose fate is still unknown.
Dmytro Lubinets highlighted the uniqueness of the Lviv installation and said he would like similar “places of hope” to appear in other Ukrainian cities as well, in order to draw even more public attention to the issue of captured and missing defenders.
The installation was set up this spring on Rynok Square. The idea of creating a space that serves as a daily reminder of those awaited back from captivity or danger emerged among the families of captured and missing service personnel. The wooden chair symbolises the empty seat kept for those who are to return home.