99 Names That Must Not Be Forgotten: Bilohorodska Community Honored Its Defenders on the Third Anniversary of the Full-Scale War
February 24 is a day Ukraine will remember forever. In the Bilohorod community the date was marked not with officials’ speeches but with tears, silence and 99 names spoken aloud — each one separately. Because each of them is a whole life that the war cut short.
By Tetiana Suchkova-Ladik
February 25, 2026 · 1 min read
On the Alley of Glory — tears and tightly held flags
At the Alley of Glory of the Bilohorod community gathered those who knew these people personally: neighbors, classmates, families. Children recited the stories of the fallen Heroes — about their courage, kindness, love for their relatives, and dreams that did not have time to come true. In 2025 alone the community lost 23 defenders. In total — 99 over four years of the full-scale war.
«This is pain and an unspeakable loss that we share as an entire community»
– Anton Ovsienko, village head of the Bilohorod community
Among the Heroes — those who fled the war but stood up to defend it
Among the 99 deceased were not only native residents of the community. Many families had once come here as internally displaced persons: escaping occupation, seeking safety. They found a home. And their sons and husbands went to defend the very land that had given them shelter. Now their names are forever part of the history of the Bilohorod community.
A prayer for the fallen was led by Bishop Yefrem of Vasylkiv and the clergy of the Vyshneve and Bilohorod deaneries of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine — with the blessing of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine.
Remembrance is not just a minute of silence
Local public memorial events are the space where a great national tragedy becomes personal. Psychologists and sociologists studying wartime experience emphasize: public commemoration of the fallen helps communities withstand the prolonged pressure of war, not fall apart, and not forget what it is all for.
The Bilohorod community is one example of how local memory becomes part of the nationwide resistance. 99 names are not statistics. They are 99 reasons to keep going.
Eternal memory and glory to the Heroes. Glory to Ukraine.
