Zelensky commemorates Babyn Yar massacre victims

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has attended an event in Kyiv to commemorate the victims of the Babyn Yar tragedy.

The head of state posted a respective video from the commemoration ceremony, which took place at the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Preserve, on his Telegram channel, Ukrinform reports.

"We cannot forget such times, the terrible times of fascism and Nazism. We have to remind everyone about this, not only in Ukraine, but also outside the borders of our country that such terrible times cannot return again," Zelensky said in his speech.

He also noted the significant contribution of Ukraine's allies and the Jewish people to the victory over Nazism.

Zelensky placed a lamp next to the Menorah monument at Babyn Yar in Kyiv.

Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak, Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi, rabbis and ambassadors also took part in the ceremony commemorating the executed Jews and other victims of the Nazis.

On Sunday, September 29, Ukraine commemorates the victims of the Babyn Yar tragedy. In 1941, during September 29-30, the first mass shooting of unarmed civilians was carried out in Nazi-occupied Kyiv.

From September 29 to October 11, 1941, the SS killed almost the entire Jewish population of the city, including more than 50,000 men, women, and children. Almost 34,000 people were killed in the first two days alone, and 17,000 people were shot on October 1, 2, 8, and 11.

According to various estimates, some 100,000 to 150,000 people were killed in the Babyn Yar during World War II: Jews, Roma, Karaites, Soviet prisoners of war, members of the Ukrainian national resistance movement, patients of a psychiatric clinic and representatives of other national or social groups.