The one near Mother Ukraine Monument: How a woman from Kyiv saved 16-metre flag brought from Kramatorsk
The soldier's mother, Nina Kostiumynska, from Kyiv, repaired a large Ukrainian flag at her home, which travelled 4,000 kilometres from Kramatorsk and was installed near the Mother Ukraine Monument in Kyiv on 23 August.
The story of the woman who repaired the flag was told by her son, Dmytro Kostiumynskyi, to Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia.
The man is currently serving in the army in the east. His mother, Nina Ivanivna, came to Kyiv from Crimea at the age of 15.
For more than 40 years, Nina Ivanivna has been teaching tailoring and sewing at the capital’s school in Nyvky. When the war began, the woman stayed in the capital even when the Russians approached the city.
For a year and a half, she has been helping the local military enlistment offices by sewing flags for fallen soldiers, restoring clothes for the military, etc.
On the eve of Flag Day, the military approached the defender's brother Oleksandr and said that the large flag with the signatures of soldiers, medics and volunteers, which had been brought to the capital and was already being carried to the installation, was torn.
The flag, measuring 16x23.5 metres and weighing approximately 45 kg, had to be repaired urgently, but everyone refused.
"My brother asked my mother for help; she agreed and repaired the flag herself. My niece signed it, and it was sent to be mounted on the flagpole. That's how our family's signature appeared on the flag," says Dmytro.
The soldier says that it is very important for him that the symbolic flag has gotten to his mother.
"At the beginning of the video, they say that this flag travelled all over Ukraine. It was in Kramatorsk. I am now a little further away. The flag was here, and at the last stage, it ended up at my house. It is very symbolic. I pay tribute to my mother, who joined this large-scale and secret process," says Dmytro Kostiumynskyi.
Dmytro recalls that when he went to war, his mother "did not ask him unnecessary questions and understood everything".
"She hugged me and said: Son, I understand everything; this is how it should be. This is what keeps me here. My mother is a strong warrior," says the soldier.
Background:
As the Office of the President reported, the flag of Ukraine from Kramatorsk was raised next to the Mother Ukraine monument in Kyiv on National Ukrainian Flag Day. Before that, he travelled more than 4,000 km, including along the entire front line.
The flag was signed by almost 2,000 Ukrainians: military personnel, their relatives, volunteers, doctors, etc.
After the holidays, the flag should be handed over to the museum.
Photo: Dmytro Kostiumynskyi
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