Ukraine to draw inspiration from Arlington Cemetery when creating Kyiv memorial
Ukraine will take inspiration from the experience of the Arlington National Cemetery in the United States to create a war memorial cemetery in Kyiv.
Source: Yuliia Laputina, Minister of Veteran Affairs of Ukraine, in an interview with CNN during her visit to the USA
Details: CNN noted that Laputina's visit to Arlington National Cemetery was a deeply moving experience for her.
"I really appreciated this incredible memorialising and respect for the people who defended your country," Laputina said.
Laputina said Ukraine is planning to draw inspiration from Arlington as it works to create its own version of the memorial and war cemetery in Kyiv.
Quote: "It will be a memorial not only for those who will be buried there from the battles of the Russo-Ukrainian war, for the heroes, but also it will be a memorial for all of the defenders of our country when Ukraine was fighting for independence in various periods of history."
More details: According to Laputina, Ukraine is expected to have about four million veterans and their families by the end of the war.
The minister came to Washington, DC, to discuss best practices and to urge the US government to allocate specific funds to support her ministry’s efforts. The United States has provided billions of US dollars in direct budgetary support to Ukraine, but has not allocated funds specifically for veterans' affairs, Laputina said.
For reference: Arlington National Cemetery is a military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, where war veterans, presidents, Supreme Court justices and astronauts are buried. Today, the cemetery has about 300,000 graves.
Background: On 20 April, Vitali Klitschko stated that Kyiv City Council has allocated land and, in fact, started the procedure for establishing the National Military Memorial Cemetery in Bykivnia [an area in Kyiv where Ukraine’s largest burial-place of victims of mass political repressions is located – ed.]. Its area will cover almost 100 hectares.
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