Activists in Kharkiv held moment of silence for Iryna Tsybukh, call sign “Cheka,” who was killed 1 year ago (Photos)

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, May 29 — On the morning of May 29, activists and locals held a moment of silence in honor of Iryna Tsybukh, the call sign “Cheka,” in the center of Kharkiv.

Iryna Tsybukh was a journalist, activist, and paramedic in the medical battalion “Hospitallers.” She died a year ago during the rotation on the Kharkiv axis. On February 26, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, gave her the posthumous title of a Hero of Ukraine.

Tsybukh has always cared about the way the country and its people honor the memory of its dead and killed and advocated for developing a strategy for memorialization in Ukraine.

“The nation forms the memory — or the memory forms the nation? I will choose the second option,” she said in an interview with Ukrinform.

Banner for moment of silence: “Honor! 9 a.m., Iryna Tsybukh, “Cheka” (the call sign),” Kharkiv, May 29 / Photo: Andrii Henov, Gwara Media

At 9 a.m. on May 29, Kharkiv locals came to Freedom Square, the 8th largest city-center square in Europe, for the “Moment of honor” event in honor of “Cheka.”

The nationwide minute of silence each day, at 9:00 a.m., was established by the order of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in March of 2022, to honor “those who died because of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Moment of silence in honor of Iryna Tsybukh, the call sign “Cheka,” in Kharkiv on May 29 / Photo: Andrii Henov, Gwara Media

More than 20 people — including those passing and driving by — joined in the moment of silence.

Participants held banners that called for honoring the memory of the fallen, which Tsybukh has always supported on her social media and in interviews.

Participants of moment of silence in honor of Iryna Tsybukh, the call sign “Cheka,” in Kharkiv on May 29 / Photo: Andrii Henov, Gwara Media

Participant of moment of silence in Kharkiv on May 29 with banner: “9 a.m. Stop! Honor the memory of killed!” / Photo: Andrii Henov, Gwara Media

In April, Ihor Terekhov, the Kharkiv mayor, said that Norman Foster, an English architect, would design the memorial complex for fallen soldiers in Kharkiv, — a decision that was criticized by local activists.

Read more

• General Staff: Russia conducted 12 attacks in Kharkiv Oblast over past day

Gwara is a Kharkiv-based independent newsroom that works to tell you about our vibrant home while it resists Russia’s war of aggression and endures through its consequences. Please, consider buying our journalists a coffee or subscribing to our Patreon to support our reporting long-term.