The Ukraine is Being the Ukraine Again

In news that will surprise no one who knows the history, the Ukrainian army has adapted the salute used by Nazi collaborators as its official greeting:

August 24th, Ukrainian Independence Day, will see a ceremony introducing the country's new official army salute, as prescribed by Ukraine’s Presidential decree: Glory to Ukraine! - Glory to the Heroes!

"We have consulted with the Minister of Defense, National Security and Defense Council, Government and I have decided that starting from August 24 these words will be heard for the first time as part of the official military parade ceremony on the Independence Day of Ukraine," Petro Poroshenko was quoted saying on the Ukraine President's official site.

Glory to Ukraine! - Glory to the Heroes! is a slogan of the UPA, the Ukraine Rebel Army who fought on the side of the Nazis. The slogans, their origin, and history are well known in Ukraine, although the President's website does not make mention of these. Present neo-Nazi Ukrainian military formations established by order of the Ukrainian authorities appropriated the slogan from the end of 2013 onward. Now, the Ukrainian Nazi collaborator's greeting will become the official salute in that country's army.

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"If a country adopts pro-Nazi slogans of criminal forces, murderers who committed numerous crimes of genocide, that country is doomed," said co-founder and President of the Rogatchi Foundation Dr. Inna Rogatchi. "But the world shouldn't turn a blind eye to this, as it repeatedly does with regard to Ukraine."

This is not a surprise, particularly given the nature of the coup that put the current government in power.

The US State Department actively supported and cultivated right wing nationalists, and this is the foreseeable result.