Ukraine holds funeral for 27 unidentified soldiers and buries them with full honors

(30 Apr 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Kyiv, Ukraine - 30 April 2026 1. Wide of soldiers holding stretched Ukrainian flags UPSOUND: horns playing 2. Soldiers firing in air on command UPSOUND: gunshot 3. Soldiers lowering flags on coffins 4. Priest sprinkling water on coffins covered with flags 5. Various of priest saying prayers 6. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Victor Proshkin, military chaplain with call sign Padre Victor: "Speaking from a theological point of view, those are national martyrs who gave their lives so that Ukraine could exist and we could exist as a nation. And we must do everything to ensure that the memory of them is truly preserved in future generations. So that we set an example and our children understand why this struggle is being waged." 7. Soldiers folding coffin flag 8. Soldiers passing along folded flags 9. Various of soldiers carrying coffins 10. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Oleh Hostishchev, Deputy Director of National Military Memorial: "My heart and soul ache, every time a coffin arrives at this cemetery, yet I am proud of the steps our country is taking to honour every person who gave their life to defend the Motherland. This gives us the chance to walk this earth, to rejoice, to smile. That right was taken from them." 11. Soldiers laying coffins to rest and marching on command 12. Various of soldiers putting coffins into graves 13. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Oleh Hostishchev, Deputy Director of National Military Memorial: "Today's soldiers died in 2022-2023 while defending their homeland, where all deadlines for their identification in the places where they died were met. And when it was decided that there was no more time to postpone, the decision was made to bury them." 14. Clay being shoveled onto coffin 15. Grave stone reading (Ukrainian) "Unknown Ukraine Defender" 16. Various of flowers near freshly dug graves STORYLINE: A funeral ceremony at the National Military Memorial Cemetery honored 27 unidentified Ukrainian service members on Thursday amid the country grappling with the human cost of Russia’s invasion. The fallen — whose identities have not yet been established — were buried with full military honors, part of an effort to ensure dignified commemoration and to establish a lasting national practice of honoring unknown soldiers. The ceremony began with a minute of silence, announced by the honor guard commander, as rows of servicemen stood in formation along the Alley of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes. Coffins draped in Ukrainian flags were carried in procession by military pallbearers, led by a flag-bearing unit. Mourners lined the pathway, forming a corridor of respect as the fallen were brought to the burial site. Military chaplains conducted religious rites, while a bugle call and the national anthem marked the central moments of the ceremony. "Those are national martyrs who gave their lives so that Ukraine could exist and we could exist as a nation," Victor Proshkin, military chaplain with callsign Padre Victor, said. "And we must do everything to ensure that the memory of them is truly preserved in future generations." Following the ceremony, the coffins were carried in silence to their graves, where they were lowered into the ground. Attendees laid flowers at the burial sites in a final act of tribute. The ceremony reflects Ukraine’s ongoing effort to honor those who died defending the country — even when their names remain unknown — as the war continues to shape the nation’s memory and identity. This gives us the chance to walk this earth, to rejoice, to smile. That right was taken from them." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...