Russian airstrike partially destroys Heroes’ Alley in Zolochiv

In the center of Zolochiv, shelling shattered portraits of fallen defenders of Ukraine that were installed on granite steles.

There were 38 photos of defenders on the Alley of Heroes. Now all the steles need to be replaced, said the head of the Zolochiv community Viktor Kovalenko.

“These were glass plates, the photos were inside — neither rain nor snow got there. Unfortunately, almost all of these plates are cracked, battered by debris, even the granite pillars on which they stood, some were simply torn off, such was the powerful shock wave of the KAB-500,” said Viktor Kovalenko.

The Alley of Heroes of the Zolochiv region was built and opened in December 2023. The money for its construction was collected by the entire community, says Kovalenko.

“Firstly, there were contributions from our agricultural producers, caring patrons, entrepreneurs, and ordinary people. And there was also co-financing from the local budget. More than 200 thousand hryvnias were allocated from our budget alone, but there is a much larger amount there, because, as I said, all the people there helped build it,” comments the head of the Zolochiv community.

The damaged alley is planned to be restored in the same place, and there will be more portraits of the fallen defenders, said Viktor Kovalenko. 75 fallen defenders have already died in the war.

“When the contractor saw how it was all broken today, he called himself and was worried about how damaged this structure was. Therefore, we will wait for the arrival of these specialists in the near future so that they can make an expert opinion, and then after that we will understand what the amount could be. This is a Kharkiv company,” said Viktor Kovalenko.

He hopes that the alley will be restored this year.

The Russians dropped an aerial bomb on the center of Zolochiv at around 05:00 on February 18. It destroyed the building of the social protection department, damaged the premises of the village council, police, prosecutor’s office, court, house of culture, library, kindergarten, music school, two apartment buildings, a private house, five shops, a cafe, and power grids.