On August 22, on the eve of Independence Day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian National Pantheon.” On July 1, 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted draft law No. 15360, which had been submitted to Parliament by the President of Ukraine. A total of 287 members of parliament voted in favor of the decision. The Law “On the Ukrainian National Pantheon” provides for the establishment in Kyiv of a nationwide memorial complex to honor the most outstanding representatives of the Ukrainian people.
The Ukrainian Institute of National Memory has joined the work of creating the Ukrainian National Pantheon. The Institute has consistently worked on developing the concept of the Pantheon and its place within the system of national memory. In early July 2026, the Concept of the Ukrainian National Pantheon was presented, defining its principal values, functions, and principles of creation. It can be viewed here: https://surl.li/endiby
Under the Law, the Ukrainian National Pantheon is a nationwide place of memory of the Ukrainian people and a place to honor the most outstanding representatives of the Ukrainian nation who made an exceptional, historically significant contribution to achieving and restoring independence; state-building and the development of the Ukrainian state; the defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity; the formation of the Ukrainian nation, armed forces, culture, art, science, and sport; the development of the Ukrainian literary language; the development of civil society; or religion.
The Law identifies the following categories of people whose memory may be honored at the Pantheon:
- Heads of state, or persons equivalent to heads of state, of Rus’, the Kingdom of Rus’, the Ukrainian Cossack state (Zaporozhian Host), the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the West Ukrainian People’s Republic, the Ukrainian State, and Carpathian Ukraine.
- Presidents of Ukraine, except those removed through impeachment.
- Commanders-in-chief (supreme commanders) of the Ukrainian army during different historical periods.
- Persons who made an exceptional, historically significant contribution to independence, state-building, the defense of sovereignty, the formation of the Ukrainian nation and armed forces, culture, art, science, sport, the Ukrainian literary language, civil society, or religion.
- Nobel Prize laureates in science or literature and figures of international stature who were citizens of Ukraine, were born or lived in Ukraine, or whose activities were connected with the territory of Ukraine.
Persons may be reburied at the Pantheon only if at least twenty years have passed since their death. This provision is intended to protect the Pantheon from political or other pressure concerning decisions about whom to reinter.
Persons who already have burial places in Ukraine around which a tradition of commemoration has developed will notbe reburied at the Pantheon.
Persons with a criminal conviction for crimes against the foundations of Ukraine’s national security, peace, the security of humanity, or the international legal order may not be honored at the Pantheon. Nor may persons subject to legislation condemning the communist and Nazi regimes, Russian imperial policy, or the Russian Nazi totalitarian regime of the terrorist state.
Thus, the Pantheon is intended to preserve and demonstrate the continuity of Ukraine’s state-building tradition and culture from the era of Rus’-Ukraine to the present, and to help shape Ukrainian national and civic identity.
The Pantheon will be designed through a competition accompanied by broad public discussion, as a multifunctional memorial, historical-cultural, architectural, and landscape complex. For this purpose, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory has established a Working Group. According to a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (No. 871 of July 1, 2026), its work is intended to provide scholarly and methodological support for the process of establishing the Pantheon, including determining forms of memorialization and conducting expert and public discussions on matters related to the creation and operation of the Pantheon.
According to the overall concept, the Ukrainian National Pantheon is intended to become one of the symbols of modern Ukraine. Its significance will extend far beyond that of an architectural complex or burial site. Above all, it represents the creation of a site of national memory that will unite historical heritage, the struggle for independence, the values of the Ukrainian political nation, and a vision of the future.
The National Pantheon:
- will not be a cemetery; several dozen people will be reburied there;
- will be an open, inclusive public space;
- will serve as a place for honorary reburials, the installation of cenotaphs, and other forms of honoring the most outstanding representatives of the Ukrainian nation from the era of Rus’ to the present;
- will be used for events conducted under Ukraine’s State Protocol and Ceremonial;
- will have a non-denominational status, while allowing religious ceremonies to be held there.
Accordingly, the Pantheon will have a number of functions: memorial-symbolic, educational and enlightening, ceremonial, representative, consolidating, sacred, and motivational.
According to the Concept of the Ukrainian National Pantheon developed by the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, its territory will include a complex of buildings and memorial sites, including:
- honorary burial sites, including cenotaphs;
- a ceremonial square;
- monumental objects presenting the history and principal processes of Ukrainian state-building;
- exhibition, display, and museum spaces.
Under the adopted Law of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian National Pantheon,” decisions concerning the honoring of an individual at the Pantheon (or the addition of a cenotaph) will be made by a permanent collegial advisory body, established through a competitive selection process, with its membership approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The body will include representatives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory and scholarly institutions, as well as specialists in history, national memory, education, memorialization, art, science, sport, Ukrainian linguistics, civil society development, and religion.
The legal entity that will manage the Pantheon will be established or designated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The Law will enter into force on the day following its publication.