History, Poetry, Memory: the Grave of Bohdan Khmelnytsky Regiment Soldiers on Zamkova Hill

Abstract

On April 18, 1917, the creation of the 1st Ukrainian Cossack regiment named after Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky was solemnly proclaimed in Kyiv. The formation of the regiment was supported by the Ukrainian Central Council and became an important factor in national progress. Soon, the then Russian military administration was also forced to authorize the existence of the regiment.On the evening of July 26, 1917, on their way from Kyiv to the Russian-German front, an echelon of B. Khmelnytsky regiment soldiers was unexpectedly attacked by chauvinistic Russian cuirassiers and Don Cossacks. The attacked, who did not have enough ammunition to counteract the violators, fired rifles and machine guns. After the carriages stopped, the Ukrainian soldiers were beaten with gun-butts and chopped with swords. The attack killed 16 and wounded more than 50 Ukrainian servicemen.The funeral of the Cossacks was organized at the governmental level: on July 30, thousands of people led by the Chairman of the Ukrainian Central Rada M. Hrushevsky and other Ukrainian officials formed the mourning procession and went from the Kyiv Military Hospital, where the bodies of the dead had been brought, along Hospitalna street, Khreschatyk, and then down to Podil. A solemn burial of the soldiers took place on Zamkova hill in Kyiv. A fundraiser for the construction of a monument to the victims was announced, but the turbulent revolutionary events in Kyiv did not allow bringing the case to a logical conclusion.In the late 1980s, this grave once again became an object of public attention. On October 14, 1989, a youth organization initiated the ascent to Zamkova hill and the installation of a cross on the soldiers’ graves. Later, the wooden cross was substituted with a metal one, but due to the lack of the verified information, it indicated that it was the burial place of the Sich Riflemen who died near Kruty.On August 12, 2020, on the 103rd anniversary of Bohdan Khmelnytsky regiment Cossacks’ reburial, a solemn ceremony honoring them was held on Zamkova hill at the initiative of the Museum of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921 of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine.