At yesterday's session the deputies of Chernivtsi city council renamed the street of Lieutenant Pavlo Nikitin into Kapelanska (the chaplains’) street.
35 deputies voted in favor of this decision. Previously, a petition was registered on the official web portal of Chernivtsi City Council, for which 253 people voted.
Subsequently, the city toponymic commission convened, which did not recommend to rename Nikitina street into Kapelanska street. However, the final decision was for deputies of the city council, and they supported the idea put forward by activists and volunteers. The last say - this street is named in honor of all the priests who stand side by side with our soldiers.
According to RISU correspondent Natalia Feschuk, in July, volunteer and teacher Halyna Abramyuk filed a petition to rename Nikitina street into Kapelanska street. “Ukraine is getting rid of the communist past. I propose to rename Nikitina street into Kapelanska street. On this street the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady is located, the rector of which is a military chaplain, Father Basil Hasynets, one of the 300 chaplains who defends Ukraine and its defenders with strongest weapon ever - the word,” Ms. Galina says.
This petition has collected the required number of votes. Mainly active Chernivtsi residents and youth spoke in favor of renaming. However, elderly Chernivtsi residents stood out for the name of lieutenant Nikitin, who during World War II saved Chernivtsi, and were against the renaming.
A commission member, historian and archivist Mary Nykyrsa noticed that Nikitina street once had had a good name - Starovokzalnaya and if it was to be renamed, this name is better and reminded that once in Chernivtsi there was a street of a particular chaplain - Wenzel Kekert. This is the first rector of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, who along with Austrian soldiers arrived to Chernivtsi in late XVIII century.
Another committee member, director of the Memorial Museum of Kobylanska Volodymyr Viznyuk remarked briefly: "Rename on Nikitin Council- editor is not necessary, because the disturbance will be." Like, we remember that was discussed when the demolition of the tank. The main architect of the city Natalia Hilko offered Council- editor to name the new streets in new residential area. However, the author of the petition did not agree with this.
A Greek Catholic Church in Chernivtsi, which is now located on Kapelanska street, has two names – of St. Anthony and of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Today residents of Chernivtsi lnow well the church rector - Father Vasily Hasyntsya he was at Kyiv Euromaidan from the beginning to the end, and with the onset of war in the East regularly travels to the ATO zone, helping soldiers there as chaplain and carrying aid along the lines front.