A Polish war cemetery in Ukraine narrowly avoided destruction following a near-miss during last week’s wave of Russian aerial attacks.
According to reports, a missile carrying a 700-kilogram payload fell thirty to fifty meters from the Bykivnia Graves close to Kyiv.
Bohdan Netreba, head of the complex, said: “Its fragments fell near the main monument of the necropolis, causing a fire. If the actual warhead had exploded here, nothing would have been left of the monument.”
Revealing the news today, Netreba said that the actual incident occurred on the morning of August 27. The missile, which had been destined for Kyiv, was shot down by Ukrainian air defense units, but came within a whisker of obliterating the cemetery.
"When a fire broke out, our employees and local firefighters were able to quickly extinguish it,” said Netreba.
“The sappers that arrived on the scene determined that its warhead, which fortunately did not explode, contained a 700-kilogram explosive charge.”
The vast forest surrounding the cemetery is believed to be the resting place of around 120,000 people shot during Stalin’s purges. As a result of exhumation work conducted by Polish researchers, the remains of 1,994 Poles were discovered between 2001 and 2012.
Opened in 2012, the cemetery is the fourth of the ‘Katyn cemeteries’ that hold the remains of Poles massacred by Stalin’s minions during WWII.
Forming its solemn central element, the monument at the heart of the cemetery bears the inscription: “Here lie the citizens of the Republic of Poland, who, by decision of the highest authorities of the USSR of March 5, 1940, were murdered in the internal prison of the NKVD in Kiev. The remains of the victims were found during archaeological works in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012.”
Bohdan Netreba, head of the complex, said: “Its fragments fell near the main monument of the necropolis, causing a fire. If the actual warhead had exploded here, nothing would have been left of the monument.”
Revealing the news today, Netreba said that the actual incident occurred on the morning of August 27. The missile, which had been destined for Kyiv, was shot down by Ukrainian air defense units, but came within a whisker of obliterating the cemetery.
"When a fire broke out, our employees and local firefighters were able to quickly extinguish it,” said Netreba.
“The sappers that arrived on the scene determined that its warhead, which fortunately did not explode, contained a 700-kilogram explosive charge.”
The vast forest surrounding the cemetery is believed to be the resting place of around 120,000 people shot during Stalin’s purges. As a result of exhumation work conducted by Polish researchers, the remains of 1,994 Poles were discovered between 2001 and 2012.
Opened in 2012, the cemetery is the fourth of the ‘Katyn cemeteries’ that hold the remains of Poles massacred by Stalin’s minions during WWII.
Forming its solemn central element, the monument at the heart of the cemetery bears the inscription: “Here lie the citizens of the Republic of Poland, who, by decision of the highest authorities of the USSR of March 5, 1940, were murdered in the internal prison of the NKVD in Kiev. The remains of the victims were found during archaeological works in 2001, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012.”
More In Society MORE...
