The National Military Memorial Cemetery (NMMC) free of charge organizes honorary burials for certain categories of defenders of Ukraine and provides subsequent maintenance of their burial sites. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to an explanation from the memorial cemetery itself. To use the service, relatives or other persons need to prepare documents, submit an application, and conclude an agreement with the NMMC. Below is the step-by-step procedure and a list of what the state provides free of charge.

Who Has the Right to Burial

The right to burial at the National Military Memorial Cemetery is granted to certain categories of persons, the list of which is set out in the NMMC explanation. First and foremost, this concerns defenders of Ukraine. It is separately noted that the Verkhovna Rada previously adopted a law allowing the burial at the memorial cemetery of defenders with an unexpunged or outstanding criminal record; a decision on each such case is made by a special commission under the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.

Step-by-Step Registration Procedure

The first step is to obtain a state-issued death certificate. After that, you need to submit an application to the NMMC — you can apply by phone or email. The next stage is concluding an agreement: to do this, you must personally appear with the originals of documents at the State Institution "NMMC" at the address: Kyiv, 29 Pavlovska St. This must be done no later than three working days before the scheduled date of burial. During the visit, organizational issues as well as the date and time of the ceremony are also agreed upon.

The burial agreement may be concluded by the executor of the deceased's will or by a person who has undertaken to bury the defender and possesses all the necessary original documents. After the ceremony, the certificate of the burial site is handed over to the person who concluded the agreement.

Free State Services

The state provides free of charge a number of ritual services and items necessary for burial and preserving the memory of the fallen. A temporary tombstone structure is installed after the burial free of charge, and a permanent one is also provided free of charge, one year after the burial and according to an approved design. All tombstone structures are arranged according to a single standard so that the memory of each defender is honored on equal terms.

How Many Burials Have Already Taken Place

According to the Korrespondent publication, during the first nine months, 350 burials of Ukrainian defenders and one exhumation were carried out at the National Military Memorial Cemetery. The memorial continues its work, and the procedure for arranging burials remains uniform for all applicants.