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IN THE CENTRE of Kyiv, war veteran Oleg, his wife and his comrades maintain a poignant makeshift monument to thousands of troops killed fighting Russia – among whom are three Irish men.
The monument is made up of some 18,000 flags placed in the green area beneath the monument to the dead of the revolution in 2014 in Maidan Square. There are also smiling photographs of the soldiers.
The display contains flags of the nations of the dead soldiers, and in the centre of it are green, white and orange tricolours as a tribute to the Irish killed fighting for Ukraine.
Three names are written in marker pen on the white of a tricolour and a second flag bore the name of another: they are Robert Deegan, Rory Mason, Graham Dale and Alex Ryzhuk.
Deegan (29) from Newbridge, Co Kildare, was a former special forces operator with the Army Ranger Wing when he was killed in 2024 fighting as he covered the retreat of his unit on the battlefield at Vovchansk.
Mason (23) from Dunboyne, Co Meath, died fighting in Kharkiv in 2022 in a Ukrainian offensive against Russian troops – he had joined the International Legion brigade.
Dale (45), originally from Raheny, in north Dublin, was killed in Ukraine in December 2023. He was a former US Marine and had fought previously in the war in Iraq as a member of the American military.
Ryzhuk was born and raised by his Ukrainian parents in Rathmines, Dublin. He was just 20 years old when he died. During the chaos of battle his comrades lost track of him in August 2025 – his body was found a month later and identified by DNA. He had been killed by a Russian drone.
When The Journal visited the memorial, Oleg and one of his colleagues were tending to the monument.
He said he and his wife look after the site to maintain the memory of the soldiers who died defending Ukraine. He said they maintain the security of the site in the public square and clean it regularly.
There was a man praying on his knees at one of the tributes, and nearby, a couple was hammering a tribute into the soil of another dead soldier.
In December 2025, while visiting Dublin, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena met with the families of the dead Irish men, who were posthumously awarded the Orders “For Courage,” III class.
At the time he said: “My deepest condolences to their families; the price is immense, and it is an honour for Ukraine. Thank you for raising people who lived so far from Ukraine, yet gave their lives in the fight for its freedom.
“We are very proud of such strong people. They are true heroes. And not just for our country.”
Another monument stands about a 10-minute walk away at Mykhailivs’ka Square near St Michael’s Golden Dome Church. It contains a wall of pictures of the dead soldiers, mostly from the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea.
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