DISINFO: Kyiv disrespects the memory of the Victory Day siding with Nazis
SUMMARY
Kyiv's failure to comply with the ceasefire further confirms the regime's terrorist nature, as well as its disrespect for the memory of the Great Victory Day. May 9th is a sacred holiday. But the Kyiv authorities have completely sided with Nazism, the losers of World War II, the revanchists. In essence, these people have openly worn the Nazi cross on their chests.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives accusing Ukraine authorities of being Nazi, terrorist and historical revisionist about WWII, when in fact it is Russia that manipulates historical memory for political purposes.
Nazi and Communist ideologies were banned by Ukrainian law in 2015 resulting in hundreds of monuments to Communist leaders being demolished in Ukraine since it gained independence in 1991.
Labelling Russia’s adversaries as Nazis is a very frequently used pro-Kremlin disinformation technique, and has been used by Russia to try to justify the invasion of Ukraine by portraying it as a “denazification operation”. Russia spent years preparing the information battleground prior to its full-scale invasion, with “Nazi Ukraine” being one of its most prominent disinformation features.
Read our analysis titled Key narratives in pro-kremlin disinformation: “Nazis” and "Why does Putin portray himself as the tamer of neo-Nazism".
In pro-Kremlin rhetoric, the term "terrorism" is systematically used to delegitimize Ukraine’s right to self-defense under Article 51 of the UN Charter. By labelling the victim of aggression as a "terrorist," Russia attempts to shift the moral and legal responsibility for the conflict's continuation onto Kyiv.
The claim that Kyiv "failed to comply" with the ceasefire while Russia remained peaceful is contradicted by reports of continued Russian assaults and a general failure by both parties to fully maintain the negotiated lull in fighting.
In 2023, Ukraine officially moved its main commemoration to 8 May, the Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism, to align with the rest of Europe. The broader transition to the European tradition of remembrance began after the Revolution of Dignity. It involves not only a change of date but a shift in emphasis — from the cult of arms and victory toward acknowledging the contribution of different communities to the defeat of Nazism, and toward attention to the individual, suffering and loss.
May 9th was redefined as Europe Day, a holiday celebrated across the European Union to promote peace and unity.
The shift is intended to move away from the Soviet "cult of victory" and toward a model that honors the the 8 million Ukrainians who died in World War II.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Nazi Europe's fight against Russia via Ukraine is a fight against the memory of Nazi defeat, that Nazi Germans exclude Russians from Victory Day celebrations, that Ukraine is a neo-Nazi Russophobic state, that The falsification of history has become official EU policy and Nazism is spreading across Europe.