Il sole è tramontato su Kiev nel 1342° giorno dell’invasione su vasta scala. Nessun paese europeo che ha resistito alla Seconda Guerra Mondiale sta costruendo oggi nuovi cimiteri militari. Ma l’Ucraina lo è.

**At the National Military Memorial Cemetery, which opened on August 29, 2025, more than one hundred soldiers have already been laid to rest. Frontliner reporters observed the ongoing construction of this site and learned about the challenges Ukrainians face in burying their fallen defenders.**

Families of fallen soldiers face difficult questions: where and how to bury a loved one who died defending their country. In Kyiv, several cemeteries have designated sections for defenders. Yet the city faces a growing problem – there are not enough available burial spaces.

Recently, families have been given a new option — to bury their loved ones at the National Military Memorial Cemetery (NMMC) near Kyiv, which opened in August.

**Perpetual care**

At the National Military Memorial Cemetery near Vita-Poshtova in the Hatne community of the Kyiv region, five Ukrainian soldiers whose identities remain unknown were laid to rest. Around 2-3% of DNA identifications of fallen defenders end without a confirmed match.

In such cases, a coffin may hold only fragments of a body or the soldier’s personal belongings. Each is marked with an identification number tied to DNA records so that the grave can always be found. The same number appears on the temporary grave marker and the Ukrainian flag draped over the coffin.

Although the names of these five soldiers are unknown, the ceremony, like every burial at the Memorial, follows an honorary military ritual and includes the participation of a chaplain. Only combatants whose families have applied for burial are interred at the NMMC.

Chaplain during the burial ceremony for unidentified fallen soldiers, Vita-Poshtova, Kyiv Region, Ukraine, October 3, 2025. Danylo Dubchak / Frontliner

Chaplain during the burial ceremony for unidentified fallen soldiers, Vita-Poshtova, Kyiv Region, Ukraine, October 3, 2025. Danylo Dubchak / Frontliner

>“*Families understand that this is about the perpetual care of a defender’s grave. Even if relatives move abroad or there’s no one left to visit, the grave will not be forgotten. Each defender will be buried with dignity – and that dignity will be protected,*” says Lesia Kachor, a representative of NMMC.

The number of applications for burial at NMMC has not been disclosed. However, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs states that “the process is ongoing, and the number of applications continues to grow. Families expect ceremonial burials to follow established procedures.”

The burial of unidentified soldiers took place during the cemetery’s first construction phase, completed at the end of May. The Memorial officially opened on August 29, 2025, and is planned to be built in seven phases overall.

The first phase is designed for approximately 6,000 graves, while the entire Memorial Cemetery will accommodate about 100,000 overall. This also accounts for veterans who pass away due to age or other circumstances, Kachor notes.

Over 100 burials of Ukrainian soldiers have already taken place at the cemetery. Among them are eleven defenders whose names are known and whose families personally applied to the Memorial. In the columbarium wall of the National Military Memorial Cemetery, the Hero of Ukraine, Chief Sergeant Viktor Klymchuk, callsign “Horets,” was interred.

*^([Translator’s note: “Horets” means “Highlander” in English.])*

Construction of the second compound is ongoing, which will include an administrative building and a shop. NMMC also plans to build a museum complex, a crematorium, and a Memorial Wall displaying the names of fallen defenders.

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