Bringing Ukraine closer to Europe, Zelensky marks 1945 Nazi surrender

KYIV – President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in World War II by saying on Monday that he would formalise a day of remembrance in Ukraine on May 8 when other Western countries celebrate Europe’s victory.

Speaking to the nation on a hill overlooking Kyiv, Mr Zelensky said “the old evil” had returned, this time waged by a “modern Russia” pursuing the same goal as the Nazis of “enslavement and destruction” – but that they would not succeed.

Further cementing Ukraine’s break with its Soviet past, Mr Zelensky said he had submitted a Bill to Parliament officially making May 8 a day of remembrance and victory, while May 9 – when Russia marks Victory Day – would become Europe Day.

“We are returning to our state an honest history without ideological influences. It is on May 8 that most nations of the world remember the greatness of the victory over the Nazis,” he said in a video posted on the President’s Telegram channel.

“Today, I signed the relevant decree, and every year from tomorrow, May 9, we will commemorate our historic unity – the unity of all Europeans who destroyed Nazism and will defeat rashism,” he said, using a word Ukrainians have coined to describe what they call Russian fascism. “The unity that brings peace closer.”

For Russia, May 9 is one of the most important national events – a remembrance of the enormous sacrifices made by the Soviet Union in defeating Nazi Germany. Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine sustained appalling loss of life in the war.

Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender came into force at 11.01pm on May 8, 1945, which was already May 9 in Moscow. Russians call the war the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945.

Asked about Mr Zelensky’s plan at a daily news briefing on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We are convinced that for many in Ukraine this (May 9) is a sacred day.”

He added: “There are veterans there too who took part in the Great Patriotic War, and their relatives, for whom this day is and will remain sacred.”

Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova went further.

“What is worse than an enemy? A traitor. That is Zelensky, the embodiment of Judas in the 21st century... An accomplice of the fascists 80 years later,” she said, adding that he had betrayed the memory of the Ukrainians who died fighting the Nazis.

Moscow has

stepped up attacks on capital Kyiv

and other cities across Ukraine ahead of May 9, and some commentators say Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to secure some kind of victory in the grinding war to coincide with the holiday.

Mr Zelensky said Europe could not let that happen and that it was again time to defeat “evil” together “to ensure that no one ever enslaves other peoples or destroys other countries again”.

“We do not yet know the date of our victory, but we know that it will be a holiday for the whole of Ukraine, for the whole of Europe, for the whole of the free world.” REUTERS