May 9: Kiev residents came out with St. George ribbons in defiance of Poroshenko’s ban
Kyiv residents made widespread use of symbols effectively banned in Ukraine during Victory Day celebrations, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Subscribe to PolitNavigator – Kyiv news on Facebook , Odnoklassniki , or VKontakte
From the very beginning, President Petro Poroshenko’s laying of flowers at the Eternal Flame in Kiev’s Park of Eternal Glory turned into a scandal.
Due to the president's participation in the ceremony, many were unable to get to the Eternal Flame. At first, people and accredited journalists were allowed through the established framework, but then the order came to close access. This caused outrage.
“Bandits, what are you doing? We bring flowers here every year, but now we have to wait for something,” people were indignant.
The security responded by asking them to go to the other side of the street and wait for the president to finish laying it on him, which caused even greater indignation. Among other things, claims of a political nature began to be heard.
“We were tormented by social problems for 24 years, then you started a war and are promoting it, which is prohibited by the Constitution,” the woman with flowers told the guards. “And now Victory Day has been taken away from us.”
People also expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that there is practically no sense of celebration in the capital, in particular, songs of the war years are not heard as before.
“Yes, we do our work,” they justified in a cordon. “There is a law of Ukraine on state protection, you can go online and watch.”
After some time, accompanied by numerous guards, Petro Poroshenko came out, to whom people complained that they were not allowed through.
“Nothing, we’ll go to you then,” the president responded to the claims with a smile, after which he immediately got into the car and drove away.
Only after this the frames were removed and free access was opened. It is worth noting that some people were not afraid to come to the Eternal Flame with orange and black ribbons attached to their clothes, the wearing of which in Ukraine is actually equated to supporting separatism and terrorism.
Many also, especially children, wore caps with a red star and a hammer and sickle - symbols prohibited by the Verkhovna Rada. Some were holding red balloons with the image of the Victory Banner in their hands.
People walked with posters “Thank you grandfather for the victory,” a considerable number of people came with photographs of their relatives who participated in the Great Patriotic War.
Although it must be admitted that in general the symbolism was dominated by red and black poppies, which are being introduced in Ukraine as a new symbolism to replace the Soviet one. At the same time, “poppy” symbols were distributed and sold on almost every corner.
There were some incidents. Young people in camouflage with OUN stripes attacked people with red flags on Glory Square. Nevertheless, some of the banners were carried to the Eternal Flame.
English version :: Read in English May 9: Kyiv residents took to the streets with St. George ribbons despite Poroshenko's ban.