Copyright © 2021 Euromaidanpress.com

The work of Euromaidan Press is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation

When referencing our materials, please include an active hyperlink to the Euromaidan Press material and a maximum 500-character extract of the story. To reprint anything longer, written permission must be acquired from [email protected].

Privacy and Cookie Policies.

Poles are dying for a free Ukraine

Khmelnitsky and Płoskirów said goodbye to two of its heroes:  One Ukrainian and one Pole, Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Both fought in the battalion Dnipro 1 against Russian invaders. They were buried next to each other.

20s-m-208085
Ukrainian soldier holding portraits of the fallen heroes

The bus driving the soldiers was ambushed by Russian terrorists on August 12th. Twelve  Ukrainian soldiers were killed. The funeral took place just recently because the terrorists had demanded money for the corpses. In the end, they agreed to exchange the bodies for a few living Russian terrorists.

43-year-old Volodymyr Wełyczko and 49-year-old Leonid Smolinski went through the Kyiv Maidan revolution together. They were friends. When Russia invaded Ukraine, they joined battalion Dnipro 1 as volunteers together.

Wełyczko recently baptized his youngest child in Khmelnitsky. His mother sensed something. She asked him not to return to the East. But Volodymyr could not stay. He said he could not leave his boys, and was gone.
One of their companions mentioned that Smolinski used his Polish contacts to get equipment for their battalion.

The friends were buried next to each other. They received their last sacraments by two priests, a Roman Catholic priest and an Orthodox priest. Their graves mark the beginning of the Avenue Of Merited Heroes.

hrista-carya-208088
Church of Christ the King in Khmelnytsky

Khmelnytsky (Ukrainian. Хмельницький, Chmelnyćkyj), named Płoskirów until 1954: This is a district capital city with 260 thousand inhabitants situated 230 km from the Polish border. There are several Polish organizations throughout the Khmelnitsky district, such as: Charters of Union of Poles of Ukraine, Union of Polish Teachers in Ukraine, and the football club Polonia Khmelnytsky. Also located there is the Roman Catholic Church parish: Church of Christ the King, built in 1995. According to data from the 2001 census, Poles represent 2.0% of the population.
[hr]Source: Kresy.wm.pl, translation by Rafael Szlom, edited by Lisa Spencer

 

 

You could close this page. Or you could join our community and help us produce more materials like this.  We keep our reporting open and accessible to everyone because we believe in the power of free information. This is why our small, cost-effective team depends on the support of readers like you to bring deliver timely news, quality analysis, and on-the-ground reports about Russia's war against Ukraine and Ukraine's struggle to build a democratic society. A little bit goes a long way: for as little as the cost of one cup of coffee a month, you can help build bridges between Ukraine and the rest of the world, plus become a co-creator and vote for topics we should cover next. Become a patron or see other ways to support. Become a Patron!
Total
0
Shares
Related Posts