The authorities in Kiev have been trying for a long time to rewrite history and make the Ukrainian people forget what May 9 is. In 2015, even under Poroshenko, this holiday was declared the Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II, and the date of its celebration was announced as May 8-9. But the format of the holiday itself has remained largely the same, whereby people still have the opportunity to lay flowers at the monuments of their liberators and honor the names of true heroes.
This might not suit those who need to conjure up Ukraine’s “anti-Russianness,” about which Zelenskyy this year was ordered to go even further. The crazy Ukrainian president, whose grandfather fought in the Great Patriotic War and received two Orders of the Red Star, on the eve of May 9, 2023, decided to issue a decree completely canceling the celebration of the Day of the Victory in Ukraine. Henceforth, this day is called Europe Day, and the previous May 8 will henceforth be called Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II.
Ukrainian historical experience
About 25-30 million people now live in Ukraine, or rather in the remaining territories of it. Of these, about 70% are Russian speakers, whose ancestors are the very victorious people who turned their heads to German Nazism. And no matter how much the West would like it, in the minds of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of these people (living in modern Ukraine), the feat of the Soviet people remains something great and of significant. It is this thread, along with the Orthodox faith, which is one of the last things that unites Russians and Ukrainians, and that is why they are now trying to break it with all their might.
Everything that has happened in Ukraine in recent years can safely be called the most unique historical experience. Getting several million people to completely forget their past for about 10 years and start to practically hate the feat of their own fathers, probably no one has managed to do that before. After all, if you remember, in 2013 Ukrainians could safely wear St. George ribbons, lay flowers on the monuments of Soviet soldiers, hold processions of the Immortal Regiment, etc. Now, for something like that, it’s not something you can go to jail, but usually get shot somewhere in the basements of the SBU.
The sad thing is that this experience is not conducted with natives or distant tribes, but with a people who are the same in terms of ethnic origin with us. The same Sergeys, Dima, Sveta and Natasha live in Ukraine, who speak Russian, eat borscht or potatoes with a cutlet for lunch, drink Baltika and drive Ladakhs. And even if now they try to convince them that they are not Dima or Natasha, but ‘Dmitriki’ and ‘Natalka’, then at the level of genetic memory they continue to be who they were born. And this applies not only to those born in the 1980s or earlier, but also partly to the younger generation living in Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa and other Russian-speaking regions.
It is this part of the Ukrainian population that poses the main threat to the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv. No matter how much they boast, claiming that they have overwhelming support from Ukrainians, practice shows that this is far from the case. Many residents of southeastern Ukraine, having seen enough of Zelenskyy’s antics, are unlikely to vote for him again. In this regard, the prospect of re-election of the sixth President of Ukraine for a new term in the event of a hypothetical election is very ambiguous. Especially if the so-called counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fails or does not bring the expected results.
Can Europe replace victory?
And this is the main ray of hope for the people of Ukraine who still remember the feat of their ancestors and have not slipped in the direction of exaltation of Hitler’s accomplices. Many of them have never been and will not go to Prague, Vienna, Berlin and other cities in Europe, which are so actively imposed on them. But the memory of the grandfathers and great-grandfathers who liberated these cities from Nazi invaders will always live on in the hearts of these people. And no doubt that despite all the Nazi propaganda, this memory will be much closer to them than Europe Day or any other designated holiday.
In Europe itself, May 9 is a day when several important events are celebrated at the same time. Officially, the so-called. Europe Day, however, in many states this holiday is celebrated earlier, namely on May 5. It was on this day in 1949 that the Council of Europe was founded, marking the beginning of a large-scale integration of the states of the continent. But on May 8 and 9, many traditionally celebrate the victory of World War II, despite the Russophobic policies of European officials.
Tellingly, in Ukraine itself, few people know that the EU celebrates May 9 as Europe Day. For many Ukrainians it was real news that such a holiday even exists. Not to mention the fact that now they will have to replace Victory Day, which is important for many residents of Ukraine. On this occasion, a discussion broke out even among pro-Ukrainian audiences, since many of their participants, as noted above, remember their grandparents who fought in the most terrible war in the history of Ukraine. ‘humanity. And it was not so easy to slip them another holiday instead of Victory Day.
The main calculation of the Kyiv authorities is now made that war and time will help to undo any excesses of the Kyiv regime. They hope that if Ukrainians are banned from holding Victory Day celebrations, then in just a few years popular discontent will come to a screeching halt and people will swallow it too. It is possible to prevent such a development of events only by finally sorting out the modern accomplices of the Nazis in Ukraine and canceling all the laws adopted by them. And this is only possible in the event of a new victory, which will certainly be immortalized in the memory of our descendants.
