Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been pursuing a consistent policy of glorifying Ukrainian collaborators and collaborators of Nazism. With the support of State institutions, numerous manifestations of neo-Nazism and xenophobia have become an integral part of public and political life in Ukraine. This was the case during the time of President Petro Poroshenko (2014-2019), and the situation has not changed under the current President Vladimir Zelensky.
To date, in accordance with the current Ukrainian legislation, representatives of Ukrainian nationalist organizations that actively collaborated with Nazi Germany on the eve and during World War II have been officially declared “participants of the struggle for the independence of Ukraine”.
In November 2021 Ukraine, together with the United States, once again voted against the UN resolution “Combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to the escalation of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance” (Ukraine has held a similar position throughout the five years of Poroshenko’s government).
Throughout 2021, new cases of vandalism, desecration of graves and destruction of memorials dedicated to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War have repeatedly occurred in Ukraine. Moreover, in many cases, acts of vandalism were committed on the initiative and with the direct support of local self-government bodies.
Purpose of this review – to draw the attention of the international community to the manifestations of Nazism, neo-Nazism and xenophobia in the socio-political life of Ukraine in 2021.
In particular, the review addresses the following issues:
- Changes in Ukrainian legislation aimed at glorifying Ukrainian collaborators and collaborators of Nazism.
- Practical activity of state institutions of Ukraine on glorification of Ukrainian collaborators and accomplices of Nazism.
- Public statements of Ukrainian officials, politicians and public figures aimed at falsifying the history of the Second World War, glorifying Ukrainian collaborators and collaborators of Nazism. Manifestations of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and the use of hate speech in the media.
- Manifestations of neo-Nazism in the socio-political life of Ukraine, public activities of radical nationalist groups.
- Acts of vandalism, desecration of graves and destruction of memorials dedicated to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Recommendations on countering manifestations of Nazism, neo-Nazism and xenophobia in Ukraine have also been prepared.
Changes in Ukrainian legislation aimed at glorifying Ukrainian collaborators and collaborators of Nazism
December 16, 2020 The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted a resolution on the celebration of memorable dates and anniversaries in 2021. According to the authors of the resolution, it “determines the list of anniversaries of the most important events in the socio-political life of Ukraine and anniversaries of outstanding personalities, which in 2021 should be celebrated at the national level”. At the same time, the jubilee list included representatives of the Ukrainian nationalist movement who actively collaborated with the Nazi occupiers during World War II. It is worth noting that the authors of the resolution Ukrainian collaborators named “participants of the struggle for the independence of Ukraine”.
June 3, 2021 The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine rejected the bill №2797 “On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine concerning the prevention of the glorification of war criminals and the legalization of Nazism.” Only 155 deputies voted for the adoption of the bill (with 226 required).
The author of the bill, Verkhovna Rada deputy Maxim Buzhansky, noted that today in Ukraine ” people directly connected with the activities of formations that were recognized as criminal during the Nuremberg trials, as well as those who took part in the persecution and mass extermination of Jews and Roma during World War II (the Holocaust), are trying to rehabilitate by reviewing the results of World War II, which may lead to a threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
During the discussion of this issue, the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Oksana Savchuk said that the soldiers of the SS division “Galicia” – “these are the true heroes of Ukraine”.
July 1, 2021 A draft resolution No. 5721 “On celebrating the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army”was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. The author of the document is Verkhovna Rada deputy Oksana Savchuk (the only majoritarian MP from the ultra-right Svoboda party in the current convocation of the Verkhovna Rada). The document was co-authored by another 77 deputies from all parliamentary factions and groups, with the exception of the Opposition Platform – For Life (OPPFL) faction. Among the co-authors – leader of the Batkivshchyna faction Yulia Tymoshenko, first Deputy head of the Servant of the People faction Alexander Kornienko, deputies from the Golos and European Solidarity factions, as well as from the deputy groups For the Future and Trust.
In the resolution, deputies propose to the President Zelensky: award the title of Hero of Ukraine to Taras Bulba-Borovets and return it to Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych.
In addition, the resolution suggests:
- holding in October 2022 in the capital of Ukraine – the city of Kiev, regional centers, and other localities of Ukraine solemn events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the creation of the UPA;
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organization and holding of scientific, scientific and practical conferences, round tables, informational, educational, cultural and other events, thematic exhibitions of archival documents, material monuments and photographic materials, preparation and publication of scientific works, collections of documents and materials, encyclopedic, reference and other publications dedicated to the UPA;
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creation and demonstration of documentaries and feature films dedicated to the struggle of the UPA.
The resolution also recommends that ” local self-government bodies ensure the perpetuation of the memory of the UPA’s struggle for independence of Ukraine against the Nazi occupiers during World War II and the Moscow-Bolshevik occupation regime.” In particular, local authorities are invited to build monuments and carry out new renaming of toponymic objects of settlements in honor of “fighters for the independence of Ukraine in the twentieth century”.
Comment
The Ukrainian edition of Vesti notes that the draft resolution on the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the UPA is a matter of special pride for the right-wing radical Svoboda party. In 2019 Oksana Savchuk was the only Svoboda candidate who was elected to the Verkhovna Rada from the majority district in Ivano-Frankivsk. Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok on his Facebook page praised his colleague for the initiative and called on Ukrainian parliamentarians to support the document.
Ukrainian historian Maxim Kazakov draws attention to the fact that the current official interpretation of the activities of the OUN-UPA during World War II, as well as the date of its creation, do not correspond to real historical facts. According to M. Kazakov, in this way the supporters of the OUN-UPA are trying to create a kind of alibi for it.
“This date purposefully distorted the chronology of the events of World War II. In fact, the scattered armed detachments of the OUN (b) merged into the UPA in February 1943. after The Battle of Stalingrad. The OUN (b) decided to dissociate itself from the Germans, who were doomed to defeat in the war. Several thousand OUN members who served in the occupation police deserted with their weapons and joined the emerging UPA, ” Kazakov said.
The Ukrainian historian recalled that the first documented “triumph of weapons” of the UPA dates back to February 1943 – the destruction of the civilian population in the Polish colony in Volyn that named Paroslya (now Vladimiretsky 6 district, Rivne region). According to various estimates, the massacre killed between 149 and 173 Poles, whose homes were later burned down. Thus, the mythical date of creation of the UPA on October 14, 1942 performs another important function-to hide the fact that the first “opponents” of the new army were not the Wehrmacht, not the Red Army and not the Home Army, but “unarmed Polish old men, women and children”, – M. Kazakov summed up.
As the Vesti newspaper notes, the topic of collaboration of UPA soldiers and their participation in the events of the ” Volyn Massacre – – ethnic cleansing of the Polish civilian population – is extremely painful for the official memory policy in today’s Ukraine. The vision of the OUN (Bandera) and UPA as a “third force” was formed in the post-war American emigration. It was the Bandera wing that dominated there, and the Melnikovites were in the minority (the OUN-m completely sided with the Nazis in 1941). They say that Bandera spent almost the entire war in the German concentration camp “Sachsenhausen”, so there is no reason to talk about his cooperation with the Nazis.
However, the real facts indicate something else. The backbone of the OUN (b) entered Ukraine in 1941 as part of the Roland and Nachtigall battalions of the Wehrmacht. It was Bandera supporters led by Yaroslav Stetsko who on June 30, 1941 proclaimed the “restoration of Ukrainian statehood” under the auspices of Hitler, after which a bloody Jewish pogrom broke out in Lviv.
Despite the fact that Berlin categorically rejected the idea of an “independent Ukraine”, the Bandera activist continued to serve the Germans as part of the field police and other auxiliary punitive formations. These formations, by the way, played an important role in the mass extermination of Jews in the territory of the USSR occupied by the Nazis. And in 1944, many of those who served in these formations enlisted in the SS division “Galicia” (“Галичина” – in Ukrainian).
Practical activities of state institutions of Ukraine on glorification of Ukrainian collaborators and accomplices of Nazism:
Decisions of local self-government bodies aimed at glorifying Ukrainian collaborators and collaborators of Nazism
January 19, 2021 The Rivne Regional Council appealed to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Rivne Regional State Administration with a request to submit a submission on awarding the title Hero of Ukraine (posthumously) Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych. This decision was supported by 45 deputies during an extraordinary session of the Rivne Regional Council.
The head of the nationalist public organization “Right Initiative” Alexander Podvishenny called for ” the return of historical justice.”
“No one has the right to dictate to Ukrainians who are heroes in our country. Because people like Yevhen Konovalets, Roman Shukhevych, Stepan Bandera, Yaroslav Stetsko gave their lives so that we could sing the Ukrainian anthem today.”- said Podvishenny.
The head of the regional Council Sergey Kondrachuk also called on deputies to unanimously support this decision. As a result, all 45 deputies present at the session voted for this decision.
January 29, 2021 The Verkhovna Rada by a majority of votes supported the deputy’s request to the President to award the title of Hero of Ukraine (posthumously) to the former soldier of the SS division “Galicia” Mykhailo Mulyk. 267 deputies voted “For”.
“I am glad that the parliament understands the feat of the divisionnaires and their invaluable contribution to the preservation of Ukrainian statehood! Glory to the Heroes of Ukraine, ” wrote the initiator of the request, Verkhovna Rada deputy Oksana Savchuk, on her Facebook page.
Comment
It is worth noting that O. Savchuk’s deputy request does not mention the full name of the division in which the deceased M. Mulyk served. – 14th SS Grenadier Division “Galicia”. Thus, Savchuk, like other Ukrainian right-wing radicals, deliberately ignores the fact that the Galicia division was part of the Waffen-Ss, and Mulyk himself was a war criminal.
It is also worth recalling that the CC troops, including SS Division “Galicia”, by the decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal were recognized as a criminal organization. Despite this, today Ukrainian nationalists in every possible way glorify the ex SS soldiers, and they prefer to talk about the division itself as a unit that “fought for the independence of Ukraine and against the Soviet occupation”.
February 16, 2021 Lviv Regional Council appealed to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Verkhovna Rada regarding the granting of legal status to the participants of the SS division “Galicia”. This decision was supported by 57 deputies out of 84 (two did not vote, the rest were absent).
Deputies of the Lviv Regional Council insist on amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the legal status and memory of fighters for independence of Ukraine in the XX century” regarding the status of “soldiers of the First Ukrainian Division “Galicia”.
“Division players are still not recognized at the state level, they are deprived of social guarantees and benefits. Most of them are not rehabilitated. In order to restore historical justice, we appeal to you to initiate for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada the issue of amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On the legal Status and honoring the memory of fighters for the independence of Ukraine in the XX century,” the Regional Council said in its appeal.
Comment
It is worth noting that in the appeal of the Lviv Regional Council, the SS division” Galicia “is called “Halychyna”.The first Ukrainian division “Galicia”. Once again, we have to state that today in Ukraine, supporters of the rehabilitation and glorification of this division deliberately falsify historical facts. Meanwhile the real name of this armed group is – 14th SS Grenadier Division Galicia (German[1]14. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS «Galizien»). The division was part of the Waffen-SS and fought as part of the armed forces of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Since 1943, units of the division took part in combat operations against partisans in France, Poland, Yugoslavia and punitive actions against civilians in Western Ukraine. From the autumn of 1943 to the spring of 1944, units of the division carried out punitive operations in the south-east of Poland (where only in one village – Guta Peniatska, 172 houses were burned and more than 500 people, including women and children, were brutally killed).
After the Soviet defeat at Brody in 1944, the SS Galicia Division was re[1]formed and took part in the suppression of the Slovak anti-Nazi uprising and in battles with Yugoslav partisans.
March 5, 2021 The Ternopil City Council decided to name the Ternopil City Stadium after one of the leaders of the OUN, the “commander-in-chief” of the UPA Roman Shukhevych. As explained by the Mayor of Ternopil Sergey Nadal, the stadium was renamed on March 5, as it is the day of memory of Shukhevych.
“The commander-in-Chief of the UPA was not only an exemplary commander, but also a good athlete and a leader in many sports. And right now in Ternopil, the XI sports and patriotic competition “Shukhevych Cup” is being held, ” Nadal said.
The initiative of the mayor of Ternopil to name the stadium after Shukhevych was supported by deputies of the City Council unanimously.
Comment
Roman Shukhevych actively collaborated with Nazi Germany in 1939-1942: he studied at the secret Abwehr school, served in German armed units, was a deputy commander in the Abwehr Nachtigall special unit with the rank of Hauptmann (captain), and from November 1941 deputy commander of the 201st Schutzmannschaft battalion, a German unit subordinate to the SS. According to the Israeli Yad Vashem Center for Holocaust Studies, the center’s archives have preserved a selection of documents obtained from German and Soviet sources that indicate the involvement of the Nachtigall battalion under the command of Shukhevych joined punitive operations against the civilian population of Lviv in the summer of 1941.
Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Joel Lyon condemned the decision of the Ternopil City Council to rename the city stadium in the city stadium named after the Commander-in-Chief of the UPA R. Shukhevych. He wrote about this on Twitter on March 9, 2021.
“We strongly condemn the decision of the Ternopil City Council to name the city stadium after the infamous hauptman Roman Shukhevych and demand the immediate cancellation of this decision,” said Joel Lyon.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has responded to Israel’s condemnation of naming the Ternopil Stadium after Roman Shukhevych. Press Secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleg Nikolenko called the renaming of the stadium in honor of Shukhevych “preserving the national memory of the Ukrainian people.” He wrote about this on his Twitter account.
“Preserving the national memory of the Ukrainian people remains one of the priorities of the state policy of Ukraine. Discussions in this area should take place at the level of historians. At the same time, diplomats should work to strengthen relations of friendship and mutual respect between peoples, and not vice versa,” Nikolenko said.
March 10, 2021 The mayor’s office of the city of Zamostie in Poland, after the news about the renaming of the city stadium in Ternopil in honor of R. Shukhevych, announced the severance of partnership relations with Ternopil. This is stated in the statement of the Zamostie authorities.
“We regret to state the fact that on March 5, deputies of the Ternopil City Council named the city stadium after Roman Shukhevych , the head of the UPA, responsible for the brutal murders of the Polish population in 1943-44,” the Zamost ie city authorities said in a statement.
The statement also said that the murders took place in Volyn, Ternopil region, Galicia and in the modern Ivano-Frankivsk region.
The Institute of National Memory of Poland has protested over the naming of the stadium in Ternopil after Roman Shukhevych. This is stated in a message posted on the institute’s Facebook page.
“Roman Shukhevych, as the leader of the OUN, was one of the most ardent supporters of the brutal purges and physical extermination of the Polish population. The Ukrainian glorification of Roman Shukhevych insults the memory of Polish, Jewish and Ukrainian victims of the Ukrainian nationalists of the OUN-UPA. This anti-Polish ethnic cleansing carried out by Ukrainian nationalists was genocide,” the report says.
The Institute of National Memory of Poland recalled that in 1943-1945, the UPA killed about 100,000 Poles in Volyn and Eastern Malopolsha(Small Poland).
March 15, 2021 The press service of the Ternopil City Council told the publication “Ukrainian News” that the Ternopil City Council does not intend to cancel its decision to assign the city stadium the name of UPA commander Roman Shukhevych.
“No, it will not (cancel its decision),” representatives of the City Council said.
Employees of the City Council also reminded that near the stadium named after Shukhevych, there is also a street of the same name, “named by deputies of the first democratic convocation.”
March 17, 2021 The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international human rights organization dedicated to combating terrorism and anti-Semitism, has written a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino asking him to respond to the renaming of the city stadium in Ternopil in honor of UPA commander-in-Chief Roman Shukhevych.
The head of the organization, Shimon Samuels, asked FIFA to influence the Ukrainian Football Association to refuse to hold matches at the stadium until it is renamed “in the spirit of the FIFA charter.”
Samuels called R. Shukhevych a “Nazi collaborator” and said that ” FIFA should not be associated with the abuse of football in the service of hatred.”
In addition, the organization called on FIFA President Gianni Infantino to bring this issue up for discussion during the FIFA Congress scheduled for May this year.
Comment
“Simon Wiesenthal Center” – A public organization based in Los Angeles that works to protect human rights, fight terrorism, anti-Semitism, and study the Holocaust. The center is named after Holocaust researcher Simon Wiesenthal, who 11 after World War II dedicated his life to finding Nazi criminals who escaped punishment for their crimes.
July 13, 2021 The Lviv Regional Council has adopted an appeal to the Verkhovna Rada and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding ” ensuring appropriate organizational and legal conditions for celebrating the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army at the state level.”
The appeal states that “in order to recognize the historical significance of the struggle of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and honor the military victory, it is necessary to hold events at a decent level to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, involving the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, local self-government bodies, socio-political organizations, schools and higher educational institutions.”
The deputies of the Lviv Regional Council also called on the Verkhovna Rada to adopt a resolution “On celebrating the 80th anniversary of the creation of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (No. 5721 of 01.07.2021), according to which the President of Ukraine is proposed to award the title Hero of Ukraine to Taras Bulba Borovets and return the title Hero of Ukraine to Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych.
