Zelenskyy commemorates Heroes of Kruty from earlier struggle for Ukrainian independence

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, joined by the head of his office Andriy Yermak and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Valery Zaluzhnyi, laid flowers at the memorial cross to the Heroes of Kruty at the Askold’s Grave memorial site above the banks of the Dnipro River in Kyiv, the Office of the President reported on Jan. 29.

The Heroes of Kruty were a small force of Ukrainian soldiers, many of them students, who were killed in the Battle of Kruty, a town to the east of Kyiv, while trying to stop the Bolshevist army of Russian Lieutenant General Nikolai Muravyov from advancing on Kyiv.

The head of state noted that by honoring the memory of the Heroes of Kruty, Ukrainians remembered their history, and that they are proud and thankful to the Ukrainian army, support it and together were bring victory closer. That is why Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhnyi was also present at the commemoration, Zelenskyy said.

The ceremony was also attended by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov, Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, and Deputy Head of the President’s Office Roman Mashovets.

Cadets of military educational institutions also laid flowers at the memorial cross, including the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy, Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University of Kharkiv, the Institute of the Navy of the National University “Odesa Maritime Academy”, the Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, the Heroes of Kruty Military Institute of Telecommunications and Informatization, and the Ivan Bohun Military Lyceum of Kyiv.