A Holiday With Tears Upon Our Eyes: On the Attitude Towards Victory Day in Ukraine

Abstract

Traditionally, Victory Day is celebrated by the post-Soviet population as one of the main holidays. Until now, many perceive it in the Soviet interpretation as Victory Day of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. It is not only the memory of the sacrifice and suffering that the country endured, but also the involvement in the heritage of the victorious generation. Unfortunately, the campaign to “correct” the historical memory, initiated by the West and being carried out in a number of countries of the former USSR, touched upon this holiday as well. Today, in some CIS countries, including Ukraine, some are trying to change the meaning of the holiday to belittle its significance, destroy “Soviet mythology, and dissolve the Great Patriotic War in the Second World War. Despite this, many still consider Victory Day to be the main holiday, as it can be seen from the number and mass of events held annually on May 9. The absence of a nationally responsible elite in the leadership of Ukraine, the European and Euro-Atlantic integration proclaimed by the authorities, Russophobia, the Orthodox Church schism, attempts to rewrite the country‘s history to please the Western “partners”, together with language bans, are increasingly aggravating the civilizational split between the citizens of the country.