Five years ago, on April 7, 2015, the government of Ukraine adopted the crimson poppy flower as a symbol of the victory over Nazi Germany as part of a shift away from Soviet imagery that Kyiv said the Kremlin uses to influence neighbors and promote self-serving myths about World War II amid the conflict in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
First Lady Maryna Poroshenko attended a “Remembrance Poppy” ceremony on April 7 as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi surrender in May 1945. “The time has come when we have to look for the ideas that unite our country and nation,” she said. “The second world war affected each and every Ukrainian family. The poppy is a symbol of remembrance that pays tribute to all heroes who sacrificed their lives for a better future.”
Volodymyr Vyatrovych, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, said that the Soviet-era commemorations of the Allied victory had turned the “dreadful tragedy” of World War II into a celebration of the “triumph of Communist ideas” and created a “cult of war.” “Last year, we saw that the myth about the Patriotic War, the Soviet war, had become not only an instrument of propaganda but also an instrument of war against Ukraine,” he said. “The red poppy is a traditional Ukrainian symbol of the shed blood of the Kozaks. On the other hand, it is a European symbol that commemorates victims of the first and second world wars,” he said.
The initiative of commemorating fallen Ukrainians with the Remembrance Poppy was established in 2018, and in 2019 the initiative gained legislative basis when President Petro Poroshenko issued a presidential decree that made May 8 the Day of Remembrance and Reconciliation.
Mr. Vyatrovych stated: “It is extremely important to honor the victims and heroes of this war in a Ukrainian manner, because Ukraine was one of the main arenas of the second world war. According to various estimates, about 10 million Ukrainians were victims of the war. Ukrainians made a decisive contribution to the victory over Nazism in the Red Army, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the armies of Poland, France, Great Britain and other countries. Together, they made the victory over fascism possible.”
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the second world war. On March 19, U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan said that U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien would be attending May 9 Victory Day ceremonies in Moscow. President Donald Trump declined an invitation from President Vladimir Putin to attend the celebrations. A statement from Ambassador Sullivan stated: “This high-level delegation underscores the commitment of the United States to honor the joint sacrifice of the allies, and the people of the United States and the Soviet Union who gave so much to ensure a safer world for all.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of many events, however Moscow plans to go ahead with the event despite the public health threat. Russia has even proposed holding the event with no spectators in the stands, but more than 15,000 Russian servicemen and 400 units of military equipment are prepared for the parade. Last week, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin banned all events with 50 or more persons, with sporting events and cultural events cancelled.
Source: “Ukraine turns to poppies in rebuke of Soviet World War II narrative,” (RFE/RL), The Ukrainian Weekly, April 12, 2015.