Ukraine also commemorates the end of the Second World War almost 80 years ago. For President Zelensky, this is linked to the horrors of the Russian war of aggression.
On the anniversary of the end of the World War in 1945, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky placed the current defensive battle against Russia in the tradition of the victory over Hitler’s Germany. The head of state visited the town of Yahidne in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, the scene of an alleged Russian war crime in 2022.
“80 years ago, millions of Ukrainians fought to defeat Nazism forever,” he said in a video message recorded there. “But today Ukrainians are once again standing against the evil that has been reborn, has come back and wants to destroy us again.”
In March 2022, the Russian occupation in Jahidne locked more than 350 villagers, including 80 children, in the school basement for weeks. The case is proven not only by Ukrainian information, but also by research by international media. Zelensky said 10 people died in that captivity and another 17 were killed. For him, what happened shows what Russia is like under Vladimir Putin. “If this isn’t Nazism, then what is it?” Zelensky asked in the very emotional video.
Russia has celebrated May 9, the anniversary of Hitler’s Germany’s surrender in World War II in 1945, as a pompous holiday for years. Moscow is also trying to portray the war of aggression against Ukraine ordered by Putin two years ago as an alleged continuation of the fight against fascism.
Criticism of ongoing oil exports
Zelensky said the world had resolutely resisted Hitler – and not bought oil from him or attended his inauguration. He was alluding to the ongoing Russian oil exports and Putin’s oath of office in the Kremlin the day before.
The Ukrainian army freed Yahidne at the end of March 2022, Zelensky said. He sees it as a symbol that history could repeat itself, as with the victory over the Nazis: “Everyone who came to destroy us will eventually flee the Ukrainian land.”
World War commemoration: Czech President sees “historical paradox”
With a memorial act, the Czech Republic also remembers the end of the Second World War in Europe and the liberation from the National Socialist occupation 79 years ago. In his speech, President Petr Pavel acknowledged that after a “deep reflection” the defeated Nazi Germany had become a democratic country committed to peace and stability in Europe. He described it as a “historical paradox” that Russia itself had become an aggressor with the war against Ukraine. Moscow has unleashed a war on the European continent that is not inferior in its destructiveness to the Second World War, said ex-general Pavel.
May 8th is a public holiday in the Czech Republic as Victory Day on which large shops must remain closed. In addition to Pavel, Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the presidents of both chambers of parliament took part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Vitkov Hill in Prague.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
