Today marks the 99th anniversary of the birth of Oleksa Tykhyi — a native of Donetsk region from Yizhivka, a teacher who spoke out loudly for one simple truth: Ukrainian language and truth must be heard in our land.
He consciously chose to work in a rural school to cultivate dignity and responsibility. When the system demanded silence, he wrote about the russification of Donetsk region, sent his texts to editorial offices and state institutions, compiled a dictionary of the region’s linguistic features, and became a co-founder of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group.
For this, the Soviet court sent him to labor camps twice — the second time, in fact, sentencing him to death. Even in a prison hospital, he did not renounce his convictions.
Today, as Russians have returned with the same hatred and the same desire to destroy everything Ukrainian, Oleksa Tykhyi’s words sound once again as sharp as when they were first spoken.
We remember Oleksa Tykhyi as proof that Donetsk region has its own people of honor — those who made a significant contribution to the struggle for the freedom of the Ukrainian people and the independence of the Ukrainian state.
Our duty is to continue what he stood for until the very end.