Ukraine and the “Fields of Mars”

Oct 29

Cemeteries filled with the Ukrainian fallen are becoming places of mourning and healing.

Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of soldiers in its defense against Russia’s full scale invasion. The old cemeteries no longer can hold the vast numbers of those killed in the line of duty. The new war cemeteries, the “Fields of Mars,” are dotted all across Ukraine. They are clearly marked by the hundreds of Ukrainian flags blowing in the wind.

Ukraine Story spoke with parents, children, and loved ones as they sat by the fresh graves of the departed. We heard a similar story everywhere:

“I come here every day, sometimes twice or three times. Now that he is gone, it is the only thing I can do to be close to him again.”

Most cemeteries in Europe have few visitors, but not so in Ukraine. Here there is a constant flow of mourners placing memorials, plaques, and fresh flowers. They visit their loved ones, senselessly snatched from them by the Russian invasion.

“I must tell his story. We cannot let the sacrifice be wasted. He died protecting his children and his country from Russians.”

Some were in college, others played soccer or had small businesses. Many were brand new parents with young children when they were killed.

Lieutenant Bohdan died in a last man stand in Mariupol after the civilians around him barely escaped the Russian attack. His parents described the brutal siege of the city and the moments right up to his death.

“He died for Ukraine, for all of us.”

They showed us pictures he had sent them of the ruined steel factory where he made his last stand, holding the line one more minute against the oncoming Russian attack.