Igor Poshyvailo, director of the Maidan Museum, states that the Heavenly Hundred are the first heroes in the fight against Russia.

During the Revolution of Dignity on Maidan in 2013-2014, 2,500 people were injured. Throughout the protests, security forces killed 107 participants of Maidan. Most of them lost their lives between February 18 and 20. Later, those who perished during those days in the fight for Ukraine were referred to as the Heavenly Hundred. The importance of remembering these events and reinterpreting them during the war is discussed in an interview with the director of the Maidan Museum for RBC-Ukraine.

On February 20, Ukraine commemorates the Day of Remembrance for the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred – in honor of all who gave their lives for the freedom and European future of the country during the Maidan of 2013-2014. This day marks one of the tragic dates of Maidan. On the 20th alone, 48 peaceful protesters and 4 law enforcement officers were killed.

The Revolution of Dignity became one of the key events in modern Ukrainian history and symbolizes the struggle for freedom. The significance of these events has only intensified with the war: Maidan, 11 years ago, became a point of no return in relations with the Russian regime and united society in the fight for its future free from imperial influence.

The General Director of the Maidan Museum, Igor Poshivailo, shared with RBC-Ukraine how the events of the Revolution of Dignity are perceived during the large-scale war, which pages of our history should be considered victorious, and whether Ukraine has ultimately managed to achieve what those who gave their lives on Maidan 11 years ago fought for.

– Igor, do you see a waning interest in the themes of Maidan now that 11 years have passed since those events?

– There was such a trend before the full-scale invasion. But now, on the contrary, there is significant interest in this topic. We see an attempt to understand more deeply what happened then, what relation the events of the Revolution of Dignity have to the present. What important lessons have been learned, what experience we have gained.

Even our foreign partners began to lose political interest in Maidan three years after it occurred. But now, on the contrary, we have a high demand for exhibitions and tours, which are attended by foreigners, heads of states, politicians, high delegations, representatives of EU countries. Especially on November 21 and February 20.

Thus, the Maidan Museum, as one of the active participants in shaping memory policy and culture, strives to show the continuity of our struggle for independence and freedom as much as possible, positioning the Heavenly Hundred as the first heroes of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Since the winter of 2014 marked the first victorious battle in a conflict that continues today. Maidan and the modern war are not separate events, but a unified process of Ukraine's response to Russian aggression – whether potential or actual. It is crucial to understand this.

The continuity of this struggle is also confirmed by the fact that the peaceful resistance of unarmed citizens has transformed into armed resistance against Kremlin aggression. This is the only large-scale existential process that continues to this day.

Therefore, I do not believe that interest in Maidan is declining. It should also be understood that the dramatic events of Maidan are overshadowed by other traumatic events of the war, the deaths of warriors, and peaceful citizens.

Thus, this pain, empathy for the deceased – all of this is currently experienced in a very sensitive manner. And for any sane person, it is challenging to endure such a prolonged duration of tragic events, to withstand such vast scales of grief. Today, it is extremely difficult for a sensitive citizen to actively attend commemorative events that currently exist in Ukraine.

Maidan and the modern war – are two inseparable events, – Igor Poshivailo, director of the Maidan Museum

Let’s look at our historical calendar. We continuously commemorate challenging events throughout the year, almost every day. Events related to the Holodomor, repression, and shootings, and the victims of World War II. And also – Chernobyl, then Maidan, the large war. Therefore, I would not speak of a waning interest in our contemporary history. It is an oversaturation of the human psyche with traumatic events today.

Interestingly, a similar situation was noted during the first anniversary of Maidan in November 2014. We held an important exhibition at the Ivan Honchar Museum, with art curators Vlodko Kaufman and Yekaterina Tkachenko. We observed that participants of the events, the Maidan activists themselves, found it difficult to visit. The exhibition rekindled the pain, the worries for the deceased, for the wounded. These are normal processes related to human psyche and memory.

However, such a situation does not mean that we should talk less about this topic. On these commemorative days at the Alley of Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, we hosted about 40 schoolchildren who came for a tour. Their teachers had prepared quests for them. They asked the children if they knew how many heroes are in the Heavenly Hundred, how old the youngest is, and how old the oldest is. I was pleasantly surprised that the children knew all this well, were aware of this information, came, and honored the memory of the heroes.

Today, in the context of a large war, we must also not forget or downplay the role of our fellow citizens who, unarmed, courageously and selflessly went to Maidan to confront the actions of the criminal authorities and security forces. Their struggle is now continued by their comrades who were at Maidan then and are now at war. Among our warriors today on the front lines, there are also those who were not at Maidan because they were still quite young at that time, so it is important to actualize the feat of the Heavenly Hundred for them as well.

Of course, these are different levels of struggle, but the connection between Maidan and the war is quite obvious – it reflects the depth of our civic and military feats as a response to the encroachment to subjugate Ukraine. This is not some spontaneous protest, but a conscious choice of citizens, whether in civic form or military, to defend Ukraine by all means.

– With which historical events of our country can we link the events of Maidan and the sacrifice of the heroes of the Heavenly Hundred? From history, it looks like this is a stage in the continuation of the struggle that we have had for several centuries.

– Yes, of course. The events that occurred at the end of the 20th century – both the Revolution on Granite and the subsequent Maidans – are a continuation of the processes that were ongoing in Ukraine at the beginning of the last century. These include the Ukrainian Revolution, our first liberation competitions – the struggle of the Ukrainian people for independence and statehood in 1917-1921, which encompassed the creation and struggle of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and their attempts at unification.

This struggle continues because the previous processes did not conclude with victory. For example, during the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917-1921 and the then-attempt to restore independence, there were the same prerequisites, the same need for external assistance. There was a need for recognition of the Ukrainian nation, the young state.

At that time, we needed support from the civilized European world at diplomatic, military, and political levels. Unfortunately, our governments then did not reach the global community.

February 20 – is one of the tragic dates of Maidan. On that day alone, 48 peaceful protesters and 4 law enforcement officers were killed

At that time, there was also a need to draw attention to the Ukrainian nation, its culture and language, to the threat coming from the north, from Bolshevik Russia. Now we see the same projection of events in today’s context. We also need to prove to the civilized world why protecting Ukrainian independence and sovereignty is vital. And not only for us but for the entire European continent.

Furthermore, Ukraine's resistance to Nazism during World War II and post-war liberation movements (the UPA resistance, the dissident movement, and others) are all components of a single process in various forms. And the opportunities that people had then corresponded to the historical contexts, possibilities, and political situations.

– It should probably be emphasized that there were also positive phases in this struggle; after all, we managed to achieve something.

– Undoubtedly. It cannot be said that there were no positive pages in that struggle. There were significant results from the victory of Maidan, particularly in 2014, when quite active processes of decommunization took place. This began in the spring of 2014.

Decolonization and derussification actively continue today. This is also a victory. So we managed to achieve something, rather than remaining stagnant. Each such stage will raise the question, "What have we achieved?" Such questions will certainly arise after the modern war ends. People will ask whether these enormous sacrifices were in vain and what has changed.

If