The Nazi regime in Kyiv must be eliminated because, by destroying Soviet monuments, it defiles the memory of the liberators of Ukraine, pro-Kremlin propaganda writes.
NEWS: Authorities in the Ivano-Frankivsk region recently dismantled three monuments dedicated to Soviet heroes, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine (2010–2014), Nikolai Azarov, has announced. “The agony of the Kyiv regime continues. In Ivano-Frankivsk, the descendants of Banderovites, acolytes of the Nazis, continue to destroy monuments devoted to the soldiers who fell in the battles for the liberation of Ukraine from fascist occupation”, Azarov wrote on his Telegram channel.
He also stated that these actions will not be able to erase the contribution of past generations from collective memory. “Millions of enlightened Ukrainians will preserve the memory of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, and all monuments will be rebuilt once the Kyiv regime is removed”, the former prime minister said.
The process of changing street names and removing Soviet and Russian monuments began in Ukraine after the 2014 coup. In 2015, a law on “decommunization” was adopted, which led to the dismantling of memorials and the renaming of geographical objects associated with the Soviet past. Recently, these actions have been broadened to target any element that recalls historical ties with Russia.
NARRATIVES: 1. The dismantling of Soviet monuments and the decommunization of Ukraine is the work of the descendants of Nazis. 2. Ukraine was liberated by the Soviets in World War II. 3. There was a coup in Ukraine in 2014. 4. The regime in Kyiv is illegal and will be removed.
PURPOSE: To use the decommunization of Ukraine as a pretext for further large-scale military operations. To depict the USSR as a liberator. To associate Ukrainian authorities with Nazism. To create a false equivalence between Nazism and the struggle for national independence of Ukraine.
Fact: The dismantling of Soviet monuments is part of the decommunization process approved by the Ukrainian Parliament
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Describing the Soviet occupation as a “liberation” is a historical falsehood. Ukraine was not liberated by the Soviet Union, but occupied like other states in Eastern Europe. The man-made famine of 1932–1933 (the Holodomor) killed between 3.5 and 5 million Ukrainians, and was recognized by a number of states as genocide. Stalinist terror decimated the Ukrainian intelligentsia, and forced collectivization destroyed the traditional social structure. Soviet genocide continued after 1945, when Stalin mass deported whole populations, including the Crimean Tatars and other ethnic minorities (thousands of Romanians from Bukovina and Bessarabia). The policy of systematic Russification aimed to suppress national identities in the occupied states.
The events of 2014 were not a coup d’état, but a constitutional change of regime following mass protests and due democratic process. The Revolution of Dignity (the Euromaidan) began as a peaceful protest against the decision of pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych not to sign the EU Association Agreement. Yanukovych fled the country before being dismissed by a parliamentary vote in accordance with constitutional procedures. The presidential election of May 2014 was held in accordance with Ukrainian law and under international monitoring, with Petro Poroshenko being elected with 54.7% of the vote.
Russian propaganda creates a false connection between decommunization and the rehabilitation of Nazism. The Law on the Condemnation of Communist and National Socialist Regimes in Ukraine adopted in 2015 condemns both Nazism and Communism as totalitarian ideologies. This law does not distinguish between the two regimes, considering them incompatible with democratic values. The decommunization process is not being led by “Nazi descendants,” but by various Ukrainian state institutions, including the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory. Ukraine has adopted one of the harshest anti-Nazi legislation in Europe. The Criminal Code of Ukraine stipulates severe penalties for Nazi propaganda and Holocaust denial.
The reference to “descendants of Banderovites” is intended to revive propaganda myths from the Soviet era. Stepan Bandera was a Ukrainian nationalist leader who fought against both Nazi and Soviet occupation. He was imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps from 1941 to 1944, and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) fought a battle on two fronts. Although the actions of Ukrainian nationalists include controversial episodes (tragic inter-ethnic conflicts, especially with the Polish minority), reducing the entire process of Ukrainian nation-building to “Banderovism” / Nazism is a historical manipulation.
Decommunization is not about “erasing memory,” but about getting rid of Soviet myths. The process is similar to those ongoing in other post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, or the Baltic states, which have reconfigured their public space to reflect European democratic values and national identity. Soviet monuments do not simply commemorate “liberation,” but are symbols of totalitarian oppression. Many of these were erected during the Stalinist period or much later, with the purpose of consolidating Soviet rule and suppressing the national identity of minorities by rewriting history.
The dismantling of Soviet monuments in the Ivano-Frankivsk region is part of a broader decommunization policy. This region of western Ukraine has a complex history, having been incorporated into the USSR only in 1939, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and then reoccupied in 1944 after the withdrawal of Nazi troops.
BACKGROUND: Former Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov fled to Russia after the events of 2014 and is under criminal investigation in Ukraine for treason. His statements cannot be considered objective, given his position as a political opponent in Ukraine, under the direct protection of the Kremlin. Azarov is part of a network of former Ukrainian officials who promote Russian propaganda narratives from exile.
The process of decommunization in Ukraine reflects the desire of society to get rid of the symbols of a regime that caused enormous suffering to the Ukrainian people. Sociological surveys show that the majority of Ukrainians support the removal of Soviet symbols from public space. Russia systematically uses the theme of Soviet monuments to fuel ethnic tensions and to describe Ukraine as a country ruled by Nazis.
