May 23, 2018, marks 80 years since the assassination of one of Ukraine’s greatest
statesmen, revolutionaries and military leaders – Col. Yevhen Konovalets. Struck
down by the cowardly time-bomb of an NKVD agent, his body was discovered on the
streets of Rotterdam, Germany, in 1938, almost 12 years to the day after the assassination of his close friend and comrade-in-arms Symon Petliura.
Born in Zashkiv, outside of Lviv, Konovalets was a man deeply dedicated to the cause of Ukraine’s independence, rising to the rank of commander of the Corps of Sich Riflemen, commandant of the Ukrainian Military Organisation (UVO) and finally as co-founder and first elected leader of the Supreme Council of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). One of the most prominent Ukrainian leaders of the 20th century, Konovalets led an international effort of organising Ukrainian veterans’ associations throughout the diaspora, as well as the establishment of foreign-language press bureaus in order to help garner political support for Ukraine’s independence; this included his personal appeals to the League of Nations to address the issue of Ukrainian sovereignty.
Col. Konovalets once wrote, “Neither the enemy’s prisons, deportations, nor the death of individual fighters will destroy the will of the Ukrainian people to an independent life, because Ukraine is an unconquerable bastion of heroes.” Unfortunately, his words still ring true today, as the valiant men and women of Ukraine are once again forced to defend their independence and territorial integrity against the very same tyrants who for centuries have kept the Ukrainian nation in chains.
On this solemn anniversary, the Ukrainian Youth Association pays tribute to the unconquerable and unbreakable spirit of Col. Yevhen Konovalets, a true hero in Ukraine’s ongoing quest for freedom. May his legacy continue to be an inspiration for Ukrainians worldwide in their ongoing promotion and defense of the Ukrainian state.
