KYIV – May 9 is one of the most controversial dates in Ukraine’s modern history. For decades, Ukrainians were obliged to celebrate the Soviet holiday of Victory Day. During the first 20 years after Ukraine regained its independence, the country was an information battlefield: Russia continued spreading myths about the Red Army’s glorious victory in World War II without mentioning the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and downplaying the roles of all Soviet republics, except Russia.
Creating a celebration on an occasion when the rest of the world mourned and remembered was powerful propaganda that polarized Ukrainians no less than the issues of language or religious denomination. The difference in approaches to World War II can be compared by looking at the mottos used in the West on May 8 and in Moscow on May 9: “Never again” as opposed to “We can do it again.”