In the Lviv region buried the remains of 29 soldiers of the SS division "Galicia", who died in July 1944 in battles with the Red Army. The ritual was accompanied by military honors - coffins covered with yellow-blue state flags were brought to the cemetery by soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; at the end of the memorial service, after the hymn was played, a volley of blank cartridges was fired.

“People who had the honor to protect our state were killed at this place. Today we have a great responsibility to continue this national liberation struggle. And it goes on not only for the territory, but also for the Ukrainian language and faith, ”Roman Filipiv, deputy head of the Lviv regional state administration, said at the ceremony.

In addition to officials and servicemen, representatives of the National Command Center and the local Greek Catholic (Uniate) church and citizens dressed as Galician soldiers took part in the ritual.

Such events are regularly held in the Lviv region in the village Chervone (Red) Zolochevsky district, where the military cemetery is located. From media reports, it follows that, with military honors, the remains of the SS men were buried before - in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017.

  • The re-burial ceremony of soldiers "Galicia" in the Zolochiv district of Lviv region
  • RIA News

"Galicia", or the 14th Grenadier Division, was established in April 1943. The composition of the compound included mostly Ukrainian nationalists. The priorities of this formation included conducting punitive actions against the civilian population and the fight against partisans.

In mid-July 1944, during the Lviv-Sandomierz operation "Galicia", it was defeated by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The division hit the cauldron under Brody and lost almost all the fighters. The surviving Wehrmacht soldiers took part in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising, which began on August 1, 1944.

Contradictory legislation

The heroization of Adolf Hitler’s supporters takes place in Ukraine, contrary to international law. By decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal, all units of Nazi Germany, including SS units (Schutzstaffeln), were declared criminal. It is noteworthy that the chief prosecutor from the Soviet Union at the trial was the prosecutor of the Ukrainian SSR, Roman Rudenko.

In modern Ukraine there is a very controversial legislation concerning the activities of units of Nazi Germany. In particular, in May 2015, Petro Poroshenko signed the so-called law on decommunization. It consists of four legal acts aimed at combating the “totalitarian legacy”.

The former head of state banned the propaganda of ideas and symbols of national socialism (Nazism) and communism. For example, the banners of the Red Army and St. George ribbons fell under the “sanctions”. However, the law signed by Poroshenko says nothing about the attributes of the SS and other formations of the Third Reich.

Moreover, the Ukrainian authorities officially granted the militants of the OUN-UPA *, who cooperated with the Wehrmacht, the status of fighters for the independence of Ukraine. In mid-July 2019, the Constitutional Court of the country did not see any legal conflicts in the law on decommunization.

Meanwhile, there is a split in Ukrainian society related to the assessment of events 75 years ago. On May 9, 2019, the action “Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” (similar to the Immortal Regiment. - RT ) gathered thousands of people in Ukraine. Processions of citizens with the Victory banners and portraits of relatives who fought in the Red Army, took place in almost all major cities of Ukraine. The nationalists tried to prevent the action, but their activity this year was limited mainly to performances.

At the same time, on June 2, during an unauthorized picket in the center of Kharkov, radicals demolished the bust of Marshal Georgy Zhukov. On the night of July 21, in Poltava, vandals desecrated a monument to General Nikolai Vatutin, commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, who in 1944 fell victim to UPA militants. Then the bandits fired on the car of the famous commander. Vatutin was seriously wounded and died a few weeks later in a Kiev hospital.

Currently, the Poltava police are investigating an act of vandalism.

Bust Zhukov was restored by the authorities of Kharkov. This was reported on July 11 by the mayor of the city, Gennady Kernes. However, the Institute of National Memory, located in Kiev, asked the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Police to initiate proceedings on the return of the monument. The radicals who dismantled the bust did not suffer any punishment.

  • Ceremony of reburial of the SS Division Galicia’s fighters
  • RIA News

Conciliatory rhetoric

The current president of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, maintains a streamlined position on the historical assessment of the actions of Ukrainian nationalists in the period 1941-1945. The head of state believes that it is necessary to honor the contribution of all those who fought against Nazism. True, he attributes not only the Red Army soldiers, but also the OUN-UPA militants to the fighters against the German invaders.

At the same time, the grandfather of the head of state Semen Zelensky, according to media reports, served in the Red Army during World War II. He commanded a mortar platoon, and then - a rifle company. For accomplishments, Zelensky Sr. was twice awarded the Order of the Red Star.

In a conversation with RT, Rostislav Ischenko, President of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting, noted that Zelensky’s conciliatory tone was associated with the desire to get votes in the east and west of the country on the eve of early elections to the Verkhovna Rada. Recall, according to a vote held on July 21, the presidential party “Servant of the People” won over 43% of the vote.

“Zelensky’s rhetoric about the need to honor the memory of the Red Army soldiers and nationalists was primarily caused by the election campaign. It is successfully over for him. But this does not mean that Zelensky, the leadership of the Servant of the People party and the new people in the Ukrainian power unit will at least formally abide by the law, which, despite numerous gaps, still prohibits the display of Nazi symbols, ”Ischenko said.

According to the expert, the Zelensky administration will continue the “ideological course”, which was conducted by Petro Poroshenko. In his opinion, the St. George Ribbon in Ukraine will remain banned, and the authorities will, as before, turn a blind eye to the propaganda of national socialism.

Ischenko believes that today only the Opposition Platform - For Life can fight the process of heroization of Hitler's accomplices in the new Verkhovna Rada. The party of Viktor Medvedchuk took second place in the election, but remained far behind the favorite and received only 43 mandates. As a result, all the bills will actually be taken individually by the “Servants of the People” faction. Politsila Zelensky won an absolute majority of seats in parliament (254 mandates), with a bar of 226 seats necessary to form a majority.

Political analyst Alexander Dudchak holds a slightly different point of view. In the commentary of RT, he stated that the Zelensky team would not openly support pro-fascist propaganda. In the interests of the administration of the current president not to raise the historical themes causing stormy arguments in Ukrainian society, Dudchak said.

“Zelensky is mistaken in trying to reconcile criminals with real heroes. However, he understands that the heroization of Hitler's accomplices causes irritation in most of society. But I do not think that he is ready to take any decisive action and will improve the law banning Nazi symbols. Most likely, Zelensky will ignore the actions of the radicals. And how can he have a way out, even if the symbols of the official formations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine resemble the attributes of the Wehrmacht, ”said Dudchak.

* “Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (UPA) is a Ukrainian organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 11/17/2014).