On June 22, Ukraine’s National Day of Mourning and Remembrance for the Victims of World War II, the Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Preserve became a place of solemn reflection—honoring both past atrocities and the ongoing suffering caused by war.

As part of the "Diplomacy of Memory" initiative launched by Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the Babyn Yar National Memorial, the site was visited by Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Keri-Lynn Wilson, Principal Conductor of the Kyivska Camerata National Ensemble of Soloists.

They were joined by Mykola Tochytskyi, Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications, Sergiy Kuslytsya, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Roza Tapanova, Director General of the Babyn Yar National Memorial.

The delegation toured key spaces of the memorial complex, paid tribute to the victims of Nazi terror, and expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian aggression.

“Babyn Yar is not only a site of tragedy,” said Roza Tapanova during the visit. “It is a mirror in which the present is forced to see itself. Memory must not be silent. We must keep the lessons of the past in focus.”