Interreligious prayer event dedicated to Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression held in Kyiv

An interreligious prayer event dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression of the Communist Regime was held in Kyiv on Sunday.

According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.

"The interreligious prayer event was attended by representatives of churches and religious organisations, members of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organisations," the report says.

The event was also attended by representatives of the government and the public: acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy Rostyslav Karandieiev; First Deputy Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience Viktor Voynalovych; Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Anton Drobovych; Ambassador of Poland to Ukraine Jaroslaw Guzy; and representative of the World Congress of Ukrainians Andriy Shevchenko.

"We are convinced that today, by uniting, Ukrainians, Poles and the whole world, we are resisting the enemy and anti-human ideology, which will enable us to say with certainty that human values win, that the word of God prevails over the word of the devil. It is very important to remember all those pages in our lives, especially the tragic ones, because on their basis we form our vision, the vision of our children, of what the world should be like: without hatred and without indulging in human rights violations," Karandeyev said.

It is noted that the exact number of victims of political repression by the communist regime - shot, imprisoned, exiled or subjected to forced psychiatric treatment - is still impossible to calculate.

"It is very important to think, reflect and remember these people today. All of these people died alone, deprived of their dignity, deprived of their rights to human treatment. By coming here, we are restoring these rights for them at least partially. We say: we have not forgotten you, you were lonely and scared here, but we came here to remind you that this is wrong. You will never be forgotten," Drobovych stressed.

As reported, every year on the third Sunday of May, Ukraine celebrates the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression.

The largest burial place in Ukraine for victims of mass political repression is located in Bykivnia Forest. This was a special purpose facility of the NKVD, where mass burials of those shot and tortured took place in the late 1930s and 1940s.