Serhiy Nigoyan, Yuriy Verbytskyi, Roman Senyk and Mykhailo Zhyznevsky are the first Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred [the name for the Euromaidan activists killed by law enforcement in 2014 – UCMC]. On the fourth anniversary of their death, the lawyer of the Heroes’ families Yevhenia Zakrevska said that there is a certain progress in these cases. “Last year I was saying that these were the worst investigated cases. I can now say that there is a certain progress in the case of Verbytskyi and some but not sufficient developments in the three other cases. The latter are being investigated as part of a unified case alongside the investigation of injuries, because no one has yet been charged or recognized guilty,” emphasized Yevhenia Zakrevska at a press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
According to the lawyer, the investigation is currently convinced that the fire came from the side of the “Berkut” special forces. The units that were deployed to Hrushevskoho street back then have already been identified. “I hope that identified will not only be the unit that was shooting but concrete persons as well,” Zakrevska noted. As to the case of Yuriy Verbytskyi, after it was passed to the Special Investigations Department within the Prosecutor General’s Office, the active investigation started, both coordinators and executors were identified. Unfortunately, most of them managed to flee the country, only one person has been detained as of now.
“Yuriy Verbytskyi is a heavenly example of how terrible it was to live in that society. How much the Maidan activists did to change the Ukrainian world and to change the people. The Heroes died but they are an example of how to love the motherland and work to its benefit,” said Oleksandr Kendzera, a family friend of the Heaven’s Hundred Hero.
The briefing participants also announced the start of the project “Honors from the Heroes” (Vidznaky Heroyiv) that aims at helping young artists to implement their dreams. “We are currently announcing the grant named after Serhiy Nigoyan. It is an opportunity to record a musical piece with a composer of an academic institution of Ukraine,” said Volodymyr Tykhyi, film director of the Babylon’13 film project.
“The key thing is that we have not forgotten or forgiven anything and we do believe in Ukraine. ‘Honors of Heroes’ is a project that will implement the vision and dreams of each Hero of the Heavenly Hundred,” elaborated Olha Klymko, head of the project.