Violence plagues Victory Day in Ukraine

While the fascist Kiev regime threatened terrorist attacks against the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on Victory Day, The two Donbass Republics celebrated Victory Day in peace and with dignity.

READ MORE: Victory Day in Donbass 

The same cannot be said of Kiev controlled regions. In spite of Victory Day being an ‘event non-grata’ in post-coup Ukraine, many ordinary people still felt the desire and the need to honour the veterans of the Great Patriotic War.

Because the heroes of the 1940s were fighting a fascist ideology that inspires many if not most members of the current Ukrainian regime, conflict, at least at an intellectual level, was inevitable.

But did the modern Ukrainian neo-Nazis stand in the streets reading fascists texts while their hands remained at their sides? Sadly, the answer was no. They physically attacked men, women and even aged veterans as they were in the midst of honouring the Victory of the 9th of May 1945.

In Kiev, masked men fired smoke bombs and home made missiles at civilians marching in the Immortal Regiment, honouring fallen loved ones and heroic veterans. One man in the video below can be seen giving the fascist/Hitler salute after firing projectiles and shouting obscene language.

In the historically multi-culture Russian city of Odessa, currently under Kiev rule, locals fought off attacks by fascist provocateurs. In many cases, police were reported to do little to prevent attacks.

Odessa has particularly felt the brunt of fascist aggression in recent years. On the 2nd of May, 2014, nearly 50 unarmed demonstrates were killed by neo-Nazi gangs and armed hooligans.

READ MORE: Remembering The Odessa Massacre: 2 May 2014

Fights also broke out in the former Ukrainian capital of Kharkov. Kharkov was the scene of many clashes between anti-fascist demonstrators and neo-Nazis in the winter and spring of 2014, shortly after the infamous coup in February of 2014.

Although the Ukrainian regime is currently controlled by the ultra-right, many people in all regions of Ukraine continue to seek the restoration of fraternal relations with the Russian Federation.

A social experiment style prank conducted by a supporter of the Ukrainian neo-fascist right backfired, when a man pretending to be a Russian journalist asked people in Kiev what their views were on Russia.

When the fake reporter discovered that the people he spoke to feel positively about Russia and President Putin, he immediately made a public plea for their arrest. Interestingly, Google searches in Ukraine for ‘Victory Day’ have increased.

If peaceful demonstrators and veterans were violently attacked by the far right in almost any other country, the so-called ‘international community’ would be up in arms.

Thus far, there have been no meaningful comments from the west about today’s violence in Ukraine.