A ceremony was held near the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to honour the memory of Ukrainian National Guard servicemen Bohdan Datsyuk, Ihor Debrin, Oleksandr Kostyna and Dmytro Slastnikov, who died while on duty on 31 August 2015. The event was attended by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk, the leadership and staff of the Ukrainian Parliament, the command and servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Addressing those present, Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, emphasised that this day will forever remain tragic in the life of the Ukrainian Parliament: "Ten years have passed since your brothers laid down their lives in front of the walls of the Verkhovna Rada while performing their duty. Yesterday, the tragedy continued when the former Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Andriy Parubiy, was treacherously killed in Lviv."
He emphasised that those who gave their lives for Ukraine's freedom will always remain in our memory: ‘The names of the National Guard soldiers are immortalised on the walls of our Parliament, and their feat will forever remain in the hearts of Ukrainians. Eternal honour and eternal memory to them.’
Valentyn Ostrizhny, Acting Deputy Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine for Personnel, recalled that the youngest of the fallen soldiers was only 20 years old, and the oldest was 25:
"Their lives were just beginning. They had dreams and plans, but they fell victim to criminals. Today, we honour the defenders who fulfilled their constitutional duty to protect public order. I thank everyone who joins us, who comes here every year and honours our fallen defenders in all corners of our country."
Those present honoured the memory of the fallen soldiers with a minute of silence. The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, together with servicemen of the National Guard, laid flowers at the memorial plaque to the dead.