On October 29, 2020, another act of vandalism was committed on the territory of the National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Babyn Yar". Criminals smashed a memorial plaque with the names of members of the OUN Marching Group who were shot by the Nazis in 1941-1942
The goal of the OUN's marching groups during World War II was to restore sovereign Ukrainian statehood in the ethnic Ukrainian lands. The proclamation of the Act of Restoration of the Ukrainian State on June 30, 1941, provoked a negative reaction from the German authorities. The arrest of OUN leaders forced the nationalists to go underground and start the Ukrainian Resistance Movement against the occupiers.
A plaque commemorating OUN members killed in the fight against the Nazi occupiers was placed near the Memorial Cross. The Cross was erected on the territory of Babyn Yar in 1992 in honor of the outstanding poetess Olena Teliga and all Ukrainians who died at the hands of the Nazis. Vandals, provocateurs, and enemies of the Ukrainian people repeatedly set fire to the Memorial Cross, tried to cut it down, smashed the memorial plaques, and poured paint on them.
The goal of the criminals is to denigrate the names and memory of those who got into an unequal duel with Nazism for the freedom of Ukraine. However, their efforts, and this time, are in vain. The memory of courageous Ukrainian fighters has sprouted from oblivion and will never fade among the grateful Ukrainian people. The plaque will be restored and criminals will be caught sooner or later.
