A memorial to “Freedom Fighters of Ukraine” was unveiled on August 23 in the village Zmiyivka, which is in the Beryslav region of the Kherson Oblast. Representatives of three denominations – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – blessed the memorial. More than 150 names were read of fighters from Kherson of the army of the Ukrainian National Republic and members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, families of which live in Zmiyivka. A memorial service was held for the Ukrainian freedom fighters.

The memorial is in the form of a sundial with a two-meter obelisk in the middle. Instead the time, however, the shadow falls on important dates in Ukrainian statehood, including Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s war of liberation, the proclamation of the act of independence in 1941, and the declaration of Independence on August 24, 1991, reported Pavlo Podobied to RISU.

The head of the village council, the head of the Bereyslav regional state administration, and the head of the Swedish community of the village took part in the event. The officials noted that the Beryslav region is famous for its contribution to the fight for independence. “On February 10, 1919, fighters of the Beryslav platoon of the army of the Ukrainian National Republic fought off a detachment of Bolsheviks in the St. Hryhoryi Biziukovyi Monastery who were cruelly treating the monks,” said the village head.

Background Information:

The modern history of the village began in 1782 when the first Swedish settles from the island of Dago settled in this area. Later settlers of different ethnicities came to this area in the first half of the 10^th century and they all united in one big village called Zmiyivka.

The village is called small Europe in southern Ukraine for it is a center of national and cultural diversity and spiritual unity. Representatives of 15 different ethnicities, including Swedes, Fins, Ukrainians, Germans, Poles, Jews, Moldovans, and Belarusians, live together

In the first settlement remains the only in Ukraine community of the Swedish Lutheran Church.

In the village live communities of the UOC-KP, UGCC, the German Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Swedish Lutheran Church.