On January 28, on the eve of the Day of Remembrance of the Heroes of Kruty, the Center for Unity and National Resistance platform, together with the Department of Family, Youth, and Mass Events of National Patriotic Education of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, organized a landmark online lecture.
The main speaker was Vitaliy Skalsky, a candidate of historical sciences, researcher of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, and active serviceman of the 17th Poltava Brigade "Raid" of the 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine "Charter."
Combining deep scientific expertise with combat experience, he debunked myths about the Battle of Kruty and drew parallels with the current war, emphasizing that knowledge of history is also a weapon.
The event was attended by the deputy head of the regional state administration, Oleksandr Shevchenko. Addressing the youth of Donetsk region, he stressed: "The Battle of Kruty is not just a page in a textbook. It is a story about how youth becomes adulthood overnight when the freedom of the country is at stake. Today, your peers on the front lines repeat this feat every day."
Oleksandr Shevchenko also added that Vitaliy Skalsky's example is a model of modern civic service: "I urge you not just to listen, but to absorb this experience. We must know what we are fighting for and who paved the way for us. Let us remember the heroes of the past. Let us support the heroes of the present. Let us build the future together!"
The emotional highlight of the event was the poetry of Svitlana Fomenko from the Khlibodarivska community—about the continuity of the Ukrainian struggle and the unchanging price of freedom.
From Svitlana Fomenko's poetry: "For those who know nothing about the battle of Kruty, history repeats itself. It can do that. And somewhere near Pokrovsk, Avdiivka, Bakhmut, it is happening again. Tragic and painfully similar... And this struggle is constantly conscious. And our heroes deserve to be heard! So that you can be Ukrainian at home today, someone once gave their life for it at Kruty."
The event demonstrated that the memory of the Heroes of Kruty is alive in Donetsk Oblast. In times of full-scale war, historical education becomes the foundation of national resistance.
The Heroes of Kruty held the sky then — the Defense Forces hold it now.
