On 20 February, 11 years ago, the bloodiest events of the Revolution of Dignity took place. On that day alone, 48 peaceful Ukrainians and four police officers were killed on the Maidan. And since 2015, every year on 20 February, we honour the memory of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes, including five Polytechnicians.
From the first days of Maidan in 2013–2014, students and teachers of our University actively joined the protests in Kyiv. It was our students who were among the first to come to Lviv’s Euromaidan in November 2013. After the brutal dispersal of students in Kyiv, including Lviv Polytechnicians, on the night of 30 November, many of those who were in Lviv at that time went to the capital en masse to join the protests. They were actively supported by their professors, who also took part in the protests in Kyiv and organised transfer to the Maidan.
The Rector of Lviv Polytechnic, Yurii Bobalo, together with the Heads of other Lviv universities, made a public statement on the events on Maidan on 30 November 2013 and later on on February 2014, expressing support for peaceful actions and condemning the actions of the security forces.
Today, we remember those Polytechnicians who could not stand aside and, despite the lack of weapons and appropriate ammunition protection, did not retreat during the attacks of the security forces, but unfortunately joined the legion of the Heavenly Hundred. All of them were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine and the Order of the Golden Star. On 4 July 2015, Patriarch Emeritus Filaret of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine awarded them medals «For Sacrifice and Love for Ukraine», and on 8 May 2016, the Supreme Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych of the UGCC Sviatoslav awarded them certificates of honour. Their names and portraits are engraved on the temporary memorial to the Heavenly Hundred Heroes in Kyiv and on the Heavenly Hundred Heroes Memorial in Lviv. Streets and squares in towns and villages are named after them, and plaques with their names are installed on the facades of the educational institutions where they had studied.
Following the tragic events on Maidan, the University honours the memory of those who died and supports research related to the Revolution of Dignity. In particular, students are encouraged to research the events of the Maidan and their impact on society by taking part in the annual All-Ukrainian competition of student research papers on the Revolution of Dignity for the award named after the Hero of the Heavenly Hundred, journalist, political scientist, and public activist Serhii Kemskyi. This year, the competition is being held for the fifth time.
In September 2016, a memorial dedicated to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred and the fallen ATO soldiers was erected near the University’s Scientific and Technical Library.
