Ukrainians remember fallen soldiers at emotional gathering in Westport

THE outside world sped on by as Westport’s Octagon came to a standstill for the local Ukrainian community on the two year-anniversary of their nation’s darkest hour.

Their short, simple ceremony began in song.

Local singers, including members of local group ‘Neslami’, delivered spirited renditions of their country’s national anthem ‘Ukraine Has Not Yet Perished’ and ‘The Red Viburnum In The Meadow’.

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Then one by one, the names of 23 of their fallen soldiers were read out by Natalia Herasymenko.

There were few men at last year’s ceremony, where women and children donned all sorts of patriotic blue and yellow paraphernalia.

This year, they are carrying posters bearing the young faces of men who gave their lives for Ukraine.

Each one has either been confirmed dead or missing in action.

Each one had a connection to a family or individual who has sought refuge in Mayo.

Each one left behind a heartbroken family that never got to say goodbye.

None of them were older than 50. The youngest were just 20 years old.

Silent tears poured from sullen, war-beaten faces as Natalia read their names aloud in English and Ukrainian.

One of them was her best friend: Jerhii Lozko.

A junior lieutenant and platoon leader, Jerhii died on June 25, 2023 near the Privillia village. He was 40 years old.

Natalia struggled to spell out these details to the crowd.

Among the names was Finbar Cafferkey, a son of Achill whose 40 years on earth were ended by Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine last year. His body most likely will never be recovered.

Like the other 23 men, Finbar died for what he believed in.

So too did 31-year-old Dmytro Buivo, whose wife was pregnant when he answered the call to arms.

Dmytro was killed on August 11, 2022, near the settlement of Pershotravneve, Kharkiv Region. His child was born one month previously.

Mykhailo Safronov was an athlete and chess teacher who died at the age 27 near Bakhmut. Two of his students now live in Westport with their mother.

Dmytro, Finbar, Jerhii, Mykhailo and thousands of other Ukrainian soldiers never got the send-off they deserved.

_{Ukrainian refugees walk towards St Mary's Church in Westport for a special ceremony in memory of their deceased and missing soldiers (Pic: Conor McKeown)}

So many more will meet the same fate today, tomorrow and next week. They do not know where or when that day will come, or if it will come.

After Natalia uttered the last name, the local singers gently gave a haunting rendition of ‘The Duck Swims’, a folk song where a soldier sings to his mother, not knowing when or where he will die.

This time, there was no applause. Only pure mournful silence.

Much like the soldier in the song, the daughters of Ukraine do not know when this insanity will end.

“We are losing thousands of really good guys in this war and we don’t see when it’s going to stop or when it’s going to pause so the feelings are more negative than positive. It’s kind of waiting for nobody knows when,” Natalia told The Mayo News.

“We all truly believe in our victory, and we believe that it’s going to end but nobody knows and nobody feels that it’s going to be soon. But we do have hope and we do believe.”

Evgeniya Bondareva, from Kharkiv, has been living in Mayo for almost two years.

She began working almost immediately in the local leisure centre and has nothing but praise for the people of Westport.  

“I know many people and if I need some help, I can ask them and they will never say ‘no’,” Evgeniya told The Mayo News.

Her new life in Mayo is slowly becoming ‘easier, but still my heart is sore because of this terrible situation in Ukraine’.

The soldiers who died for Ukraine’s freedom were remembered upon the altar at a service in St Mary’s Church following the gathering.

The following are the names of the soldiers remembered in Westport on February 24, 2024:

Serhii Lozko, junior lieutenant, platoon leader, died in 2023 near Privillia village aged 40

Vasyl Sushko, sergeant, died on July 22, aged 47; Mykola Vyshniak, died at the end of March 2023 in the suburbs of Bakhmut aged 39, leaving behind a wife and a little daughter

Dmytro Sokolov, on January 31, 2023, at the age of 40

Chizhkov Andriy, 36 years old, considered missing since June 8, 2023 in Bilogorivka village, Luhansk region

Taras Deineka, machine gunner, died on August 15, 2023 in the Kharkiv region; Boris Baklanovsky died in August 2023 near Zaytsevo village, Donetsk region

Chernyakov Vladyslav, died on December 27, 2022, at the age of 20

Vladyslav Gongalo, died on February 17, 2024 at the age of 40

Yernes Baranov, missing in the village Krasnohorivka, Donetsk region since June 15, 2022, 20 years old

Vasyl Stratulat died on September 30, 2023 at the age of 27 in Novoselivske, Luhansk region

Vyacheslav Kutuzov, died on November 15, 2022 at the age of 38 years in Bilogorivka village, Luhansk region

Serhiy Sobchuk, grenade thrower, commander, sergeant, died on November 13, 2023 in Berdychi village, Donetsk region, at the age of 49

Vasyl Strutsyuk, sniper platoon commander, died on November 21, 2023 at the age of 37

Andriy Kusovsky, senior sergeant, died in the direction of Bakhmut, Volodymyrivka village at the age of 37

Oleksandr Zhun,. Died on July 19, 2023 in Luhansk region at the age of 36

Maksym Shevchenko, died on February 25, 2023 near Ugledar at the age of 35

Finbar Cafferkey, died in a battle with Russian troops in eastern Ukraine at 40 years of age

Mykhailo Safronov, died in January 2023 near Bakhmut at the age of 27

Kablyuk Yuriy Anatoliyovych, died in the Yampolivka settlement of the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region

Dmytro Buivol, died on August 11, 2022 near the settlement of Pershotravneve, Kharkiv Region at the age of 31

Oleksandr Ivanovich Ignatenko, died on March 19, 2023 in the Dnipro region at the age of 42

Bubnov Valerii, died on April 8, 2023, near Bakhmut, Donetsk region.

May their souls rest in peace.