Keeping the Memory Alive: Ukrainian Commemoration Practices in Public Spaces Amid the War with Russia in 2025

Abstract

On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, marking a dramatic escalation of the conflict that had been simmering since 2014. Russian troops advanced into Ukrainian territory from Russia, Belarus and the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 14,200–14,400 people were killed between 14 April 2014 and 31 December 2021. Additionally, 12,500 civilians and 45,100 soldiers have been killed since the full-scale invasion, prompting efforts to commemorate those who perished in the war. This article discusses and shows images of different commemorative practices that take place in Ukraine during the ongoing war, including Independence Square in Kyiv, the Field of Mars and Saints Peter and Paul Garrison Church in Lviv and the Alley of Glory in Ivano-Frankivsk. The results show many forms of commemoration, such as the installation of national flags and cubic frames displaying banners with the faces of soldiers who died due to Russian aggression.