The elderly woman was accused of wearing Soviet symbols banned by Kiev as she brought flowers to a WWII memorial
Ukrainian police have detained an elderly woman who went to lay flowers at the Eternal Flame memorial in Kiev on Victory Day, wearing a Soviet-era side cap with a red star.
The star, as well as other symbols and names associated with Ukraine’s Soviet past, have been banned by Ukraine’s notorious 2015 decommunization laws.
Police officers confronted Galina Savchenko, 85, at the monument on Friday, telling her that the symbol she was wearing is forbidden. In a video published by local media, she is seen holding a bouquet of red flowers and a photograph of her father in his World War II Soviet military uniform. Behind her, the monument is seen covered with flowers.
The officers asked her to provide an explanation at the police station. “I’ve been there six times already,” Savchenko said. “Now the whole world will know that you are chasing me off.”
Regarding the red star symbol, the woman said, “Oh, you can barely see it,” adding, “Not like your swastika.”
It is not clear from the video what the woman was referring to regarding the officer’s uniform. However, Nazi ideology is common in contemporary Ukraine. Nationalists in Ukraine hold annual torchlight marches in honor of Stepan Bandera, who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), which collaborated with the Nazis and perpetrated and took part in a number of massacres. Ukrainian servicemen are regularly caught on camera wearing the swastika and other Nazi symbols in the conflict with Russia.
Savchenko has been listed on the Ukrainian state-linked Mirotvorets ‘kill list’ since 2018. Her page accuses her of “anti-Ukrainian propaganda” and taking part in “anti-state activities.” According to Ukrainian news reports from 2024, she arrived at the memorial in full Soviet uniform for Victory Day last year.
In 2023, Kiev changed Victory Day from May 9 to 8, and named May 9 ‘Europe Day’, as part of its efforts to distance itself from Russia. Many Ukrainians continue to defy the changes.
