Draft bill #10289 of November 24, 2023 

Status: adopted in the second reading, awaits to be signed by the President 

Who is affected: family members of the fallen defenders of Ukraine, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Ministry for Veterans Affairs 

Summary: 

  • the bill defines the procedure of how land plots for the National Military Memorial Cemetery will be transferred 
  • the location will be picked by the Cabinet of Ministers at the request from the Ministry for Veterans Affairs 
  • it will be allowed to allocate land plots without the consent of their current owners if the current owners are the state or a municipality 
  • the land for a memorial cemetery will be provided by a state company or enterprise under the Ministry for Veterans Affairs. These state companies/company will also be responsible for the construction, maintenance, and protection of the memorial cemetery 
  • sthe requirement for the initial construction design to comply with urban planning standards and restrictions will be removed 
  • it will be allowed to re-bury at the memorial cemetery the Heroes of Ukraine, who, starting from 2014, were awarded the Golden Star order. Also, it will be allowed to re-bury outstanding fighters for Ukraine’s independence in the twentieth century as decided and in the manner determined by the Cabinet of Ministers 
  • because of the martial law, the location of the Memorial Cemetery will be designated without public discussion and without urban planning documentation from local self-government bodies. 

What is right: 

  • the bill simplifies the mechanism for creating the memorial cemetery 
  • the memory of the fallen heroes of the current war between Russia and Ukraine and the fighters for Ukraine’s freedom in the twentieth century will be properly commemorated. 

What is wrong:  

  • the bill does not designate a particular government body responsible for the construction, maintenance, and protection of the memorial cemetery 
  • the requirement to hold a public discussion regarding the cemetery construction on the community’s property is removed 
  • there are doubts whether the construction of the memorial cemetery will comply with urban planning requirements. 

Alternative solution: 

  • to designate a government body responsible for the construction, maintenance, and protection of the cemetery 
  • to reinstate the requirement to hold a public discussion regarding the cemetery construction on the community’s property. 

Background information: on May 2, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada passed the law designating the location of the National Military Memorial Cemetery on Brovarskyi Prospect in the Dnipro district of Kyiv. However, the President has not yet signed it.