Oleq Babak, killed by Armenians in Gubadli, commemorated in Ukraine's Poltava region

A memorial ceremony was held in the village of Viktoriya, Poltava region, Ukraine, in honor of Oleq Babak - a Hero of the Soviet Union who was killed by Armenian armed forces in 1991 while protecting Azerbaijani civilians in the Qubadli district.

According to Report, Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Ukraine, Seymur Mardaliyev; Deputy Head of the Poltava Military Administration, Anton Chubenko; Assistant to the Military Attaché of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in Ukraine, Ibrahim Huseynov; diplomats Elshan Rashidov and Parviz Asadov; war veterans; members of the public; and Oleq Babak's parents gathered at his gravesite.

Following the performance of both national anthems, Ambassador Seymur Mardaliyev emphasized that the Azerbaijani state honors the memory of all those who sacrificed their lives for the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. He noted that one such hero is Oleq Babak, who died in 1991 defending Azerbaijani civilians from Armenian militants in Qubadli.

"Following the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani state continues to care for Oleq Babak's family. His soul is at peace, knowing that under the leadership of Azerbaijan's victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, our Army has liberated our occupied territories, including Qubadli. Reconstruction and restoration efforts are now underway in those areas," the ambassador said.

Speeches were also delivered by Anton Chubenko, Deputy Head of the Poltava Military Administration; Ivan Petrenko, Chairman of the Advisory Council for War Veterans and Families of Martyrs under the Administration; and Fuzuli Ganbarov, head of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Poltava. They spoke about Oleq Babak's heroism and the strong friendship between Azerbaijan and Ukraine.