The Hostermel community, which itself experienced occupation in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, is saying goodbye to its defender once again. Igor Oleksandrovych Konoval, call sign "Koni" (Horse), was killed while performing a combat mission. April 10 is the day of farewell.
A route that speaks louder than words
The farewell ceremony will take place in the village of Horenka (Kyivska Street, 38) at approximately 14:00–14:30. After the ceremony, community residents will escort Igor in a human corridor toward Pushcha-Vodytsia — the funeral procession will pass through streets where people stand on both sides and silently pay their respects. The funeral will be held in the village of Novi Petrivtsi in Vyshhorod district.
The human corridor is not an official ritual, but a practice that Ukrainian communities have spontaneously recreated since 2022. People come out on their own, without official announcements. In the Hostermel community, this has become part of the memory of their own occupation.
"We bow our heads again in sorrow before a great loss. Another brave Defender, who protected Ukraine, its freedom, its future, returns home on his shield"
— Hostermel Municipal Military Administration
Horenka — Novi Petrivtsi: two places, one community
The route from Horenka through Pushcha-Vodytsia to Novi Petrivtsi encompasses several settlements of the Hostermel and Petrivska communities. Novi Petrivtsi is a village in Vyshhorod district, where other fallen defenders are already buried. This is not random geography: Vyshhorod region and Hostermel region are neighboring territories, both endured 2022 under fire.
Igor Konoval is not the first and, by the logic of this war, will not be the last defender whom Hostermel escorts in this way. The community records losses and makes each farewell a public act of remembrance — not for the media, but for itself.
If communities that have already experienced occupation continue to lose their own in this same war — does this change the attitude of locals toward negotiations and peace terms, and when will this difference become visible in public policy?
