The monument dedicated to the "Luhansk victims of the OUN-UPA" is a statue located in Luhansk, Ukraine. The monument was unveiled in 2010 under the direction of city deputy Arsen Klinchaev and in association with the Party of Regions in a park in the center of Luhansk. The monument is adjacent to the Soviet memorial to the World War II underground resistance group, The Young Guard. A Ukrainian nationalist group described the monument as provocative and a distortion of history.
The monument consists of a child clinging to its mother, who is tied and presumably dead. Immediately below them is a man tied to a rock looking back at the child. The inscription on the monument reads: âÂÂIn memory of the victims of fascism and nationalism" and "The truth should not be forgotten". The statue rests on a slab engraved with a dozen names belonging to those killed.
The monument was unveiled "To People Of Luhansk Who Perished From Hands Of Nationalist Chasteners From OUN-UPA". The initiative for the monument came from city deputy Arsen Klinchaev, founder of the âÂÂMuseum of the Victims of Orange RevolutionâÂÂ. According to this local politician, a memorial is necessary so that everybody learns about the alleged crimes of the OUN and UPA, who he claims "acted in a more bestial manner than the fascists.â When a provisional memorial was unveiled, a placard was attached to the stone displaying a dove pierced by a sword with a swastika. Klinchaev stated the following as the memorial's function:
At the unveiling of a similar monument in Svatove, Luhansk Oblast in 2008, the vice-Mayor of Luhansk, Yevhen Kharin stated,
The monument was finally opened on May 9, 2010.