The families of the fallen defenders have accused a local government official in the Odesa region of discrimination

In the Znam’yanska community in the Odesa region, local authorities have been accused of taking a selective approach to honoring fallen servicemembers. Due to the refusal to fund a memorial banner for one of the defenders, his family and veterans’ organizations have called on the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Ombudsman’s Office to intervene in the situation.

According to Tetyana Kovalova, the daughter of one of the fallen soldiers, the production and installation of banners for the Walk of Fame are in fact paid for by the families of the fallen defenders and concerned residents.

The situation involving the sister of the fallen soldier Serhiy Radilskyi, who appealed to the village council regarding the production of a banner for her brother, sparked a new round of discussion. According to her, she was told that the community lacked the funds.

Kovalyova claims that more than a year and a half ago, Valentina Trinch, the head of the Znam’yanska community, promised to create a new Walk of Fame for all the community’s fallen defenders, but this has not yet been done.

She also reported that the wife of the fallen soldier Serhiy Haber demanded that her husband’s banner be removed from the old Walk of Fame due to the community’s attitude toward the families of the fallen.

Kovalyova called on the community head to fulfill her promise to create a new Walk of Fame and to explain on what grounds village council employees had provided her phone number to third parties.

The sister of the fallen soldier Serhiy Radilskyi was denied funding by the village council for a memorial banner on the local Walk of Fame due to a “lack of funds.” At the same time, in other villages within the same community (Novoelizavetivka and Radisne), the banners are fully funded from the budget, Kovalova noted.

Civil society organizations in Odesa have joined efforts to resolve the situation. A representative of the NGO “Veterans HUB ODESA,” Mykola Storozhuk called on the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and the Office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights in the Odesa region to urgently respond to the situation and visit the Znam’yanska community to ensure that the rights of the families of fallen servicemembers are upheld.

As reported by Intent, in December 2024, a conflict erupted in Znam’yanka over the replacement of banners dedicated to fallen soldiers. The relatives decided to replace the photographs of their loved ones on the Walk of Fame themselves, and the authorities filed a police report against them.

Юлія Калабайда