Kyiv held the 9th International Veterans Forum. The event took place ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day, with US Special Representative for Ukraine Keith Kellogg and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul joining it, the Ukrainian Presidential Office reports.
As of 1 May 2026, more than 2 million people had veteran status. Of the 2,014,623 veterans in total, 1,471,193 had combatant status, while 159,132 had received disability status as a result of the war, according to the National Institute of Strategic Studies.
Ukrainians will decide who counts as a hero
At the forum, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the new Ukrainian Pantheon, where Ukrainians who played a significant role in shaping the national consciousness and identity will be buried.
Ukrainians themselves will decide whom to call their heroes, he said, adding that the veteran community should be involved in national commemoration policies.
The Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution establishing that the Ukrainian National Pantheon will be located on the grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Preserve, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1990.
The forum brought together a veteran community of more than two million
The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was founded in 1051 and was controlled by the Russian Church for centuries. After Ukraine gained independence, it was used by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate until the state began the process of returning it to the Ukrainian people.
“The Ukrainian Pantheon will definitely exist. Only Ukrainians will decide for themselves who our heroes are,” Zelenskyy stated.
He also emphasized that Ukraine’s independence rests on the shoulders of people who are ready to fight for it. According to Zelenskyy, independence is not a single moment in the country’s past.
“Each of us can name many important moments, days and battles when the fate of our state was being decided. And it is being decided now,” Zelenskyy stressed.
The Ukrainian president expressed hope that Ukraine would achieve peace and thanked the country’s defenders.
