Solutions from Ukraine: Ukrainians honor fallen defenders with memory tables and bookshelves
The Readeat bookstore separately honored a colleague who died while carrying out a combat mission.
At the Zbirka bookstore, organizers set up a memory shelf for actor and soldier Yurii Felipenko, who was killed at the front. His wife, Kateryna Motrych, prepared a selection of his favorite books. It included "Steppenwolf" by Hermann Hesse, "1984" by George Orwell, "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, and "The Iliad" by Homer.
Допис, поширений Kateryna Motrych (@motrichka)
Theater on Podil also joined the campaign. In the theater lobby, organizers set up a reserved table in memory of fallen defenders, including friends and colleagues Vasyl Kukharskyi and Yurii Felipenko.
Dykyi Theater joined the commemoration of fallen soldiers through the ritual of "vinkuvannia," or wreath-making. This year, the NGO Vshanuy proposed reviving the initiative. Participants wove wreaths by hand from fresh flowers, grasses, ears of grain, and sunflowers while thinking about a specific person who is no longer with them. They brought the finished wreaths to cemeteries, memorials, and Alleys of Glory as symbols of living memory, love, and gratitude.
Допис, поширений Бібліотека Шевченка в Києві (@biblioteka.25a)
Libraries and educational institutions also joined the campaign. The National Historical Library of Ukraine presented publications from its collections dedicated to fallen heroes and organized a symbolic space of respect in its reading room, including a reserved reader's seat. Visitors could write the name of someone they wanted to remember on a postcard.
The Scientific Library of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine prepared memorial tables in five academic buildings of its branch.
Ivan Franko National University of Lviv also set up a memory table to honor fallen defenders. Among those remembered was Hospitaliers paramedic and Suspilne manager Iryna Tsybukh.
The Ukrainian Catholic University Library and the Taras Shevchenko Central Library for Children in Kyiv also joined the initiative. They reserved tables dedicated to the memory of fallen service members.
Background
It should be noted that Ukraine marks the Day of Remembrance of Ukraine's Defenders on August 29. It is a national memorial day established to honor service members and volunteers who gave their lives in the struggle for the country's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
Ukraine established the date in 2019 by presidential decree. It is linked to the 2014 Ilovaisk tragedy.
As Rubryka reported, the central event for the nationwide minute of silence took place on Kyiv's Independence Square. Organizers held the event in memory of fallen service members.
In addition, the "Table of Memory" campaign took place on Independence Square. After the event, participants went to the Sens bookstore on Khreshchatyk, where they took part in wreath-making, weaving fresh-flower wreaths instead of plastic ones in honor of fallen defenders.
"Table of Memory" is a national campaign held every year on August 29, the Day of Remembrance of Ukraine's Defenders. Its organizers are the Illia Hrabar Memory Fund, named after a soldier killed near Bakhmut, and the Memorial remembrance platform.
The tradition of setting a symbolic table in memory of the fallen originated in the United States. In Ukraine, Mariia Hrabar launched the initiative in memory of her beloved, Illia Hrabar. She adapted the tradition to the Ukrainian context, using symbols connected to national culture and the memory of the fallen. In particular, sunflowers became a symbol of the Day of Remembrance of Ukraine's Defenders, while a candle symbolizes a life that was cut short.
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31 of August 2026
