Translated by Ollie Richardson

19:08:04
27/09/2016

Ria.ru

The President of Israel Reuven Rivlin in his speech in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine reminded that Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War were accomplices of crimes against the Jews, particularly in Babi Yar.

The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in May 2015, gave OUN-UPA (Organization of Ukrainian nationalists – Ukrainian insurgent army) the status of “fighters for independence” of Ukraine, and its participants — the right to social security. Moscow condemned the decision, noting that “Ukraine is a country where neo-Nazis have moved from words to deeds and killed thousands of civilians”, and “that it is necessary to give similar actions an adequate assessment at the international level”. Glorification of the UPA and its leaders Bandera and Roman Shukhevych drew criticism from many veterans of the great Patriotic war and politicians, accusing Bandera of collaborating with the Nazis.

“About 1.5 million Jews were killed on the territory of modern Ukraine during World War II at Babi Yar and many other places… Many accomplices of the crimes were Ukrainians. Espeically fighters of the OUN (OUN-UPA), who mocked the Jews, killed them, and in many cases gave them to the Germans… the relations between the Ukrainian and Jewish peoples today are looking to the future, but we can’t let history, with both its terrible and good events be forgotten,” quotes the website of the TV channel “112. Ukraine” from the words of Rivlin.

Babi Yar in Kiev is the historical place, known far outside of Ukraine. Since September 1941, the German-fascist military and their Ukrainian collaborators shot in a trench, according to various estimates, several hundred thousand people — mainly Jews, Gypsies, Karaites of Kiev, and Soviet prisoners of war.

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