In 2020 the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Ukraine allocated 9 million hryvnia for the winners of a competition of national-patriotic education projects. The purpose of the contest, which started a year ago under President Poroshenko, is “to form value guidelines and to assert the national-patriotic consciousness of children and young people, to popularise the national spiritual and cultural heritage, and to increase the level of knowledge about the outstanding personalities of Ukraine.”
The winners were various “patriotic” organisations that promote the ideas of Ukrainian authoritarian nationalism and glorifying Banderists and Hitler’s officials.
The maximum amount allocated from the state budget for one project was 500,000 hryvnia. But many participants of the contest submitted several applications for their projects, so some winners received much more. It is interesting that the amount of financing of the contest grows every year, and under the new government this trend has not changed. Thus, in 2018 4 million hryvnia was allocated for the contest, in 2019 – 8 million, and in 2020 the amount increased by another million.
The youth organisation “Plast“, the law on the state financing of which was adopted last year after minor changes, received 2 million hryvnia for its projects. “Plast” received 340,000 hryvnia for holding “Legion” field military-patriotic camps, another 330,000 for national-patriotic camps in tents, 450,000 for all-Ukrainian military-sports games, 500,000 for the all-Ukrainian “Scout Day” festival that forms national-cultural identity, and 380,000 hryvnia for the all-Ukrainian “Orlikiada” festival. Although “Plast” positions itself as a non-political organisation, most of its pupils were ardent nationalists. Among them are Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych, and most UPA commanders. And today “Plast” in Ukraine completes the task of educating the future leaders of Ukrainian nationalism.
420,000 hryvnia was allocated for the “Bandershtat“music festival in the Volyn region. Bandershtat is an All-Ukrainian “festival of the Ukrainian spirit” and has been held since 2007. It sets itself the task of “raising the Ukrainian national idea among young people and creative collectives, and perpetuating the image of Stepan Bandera as a national symbol”. Tickets for the festival worth 500 hryvnia started to be sold already now. In general, most nationalist gatherings, concerts, and festivals take place in Western Ukraine, mainly in Galicia, although in the conditions of the competition there is a clause that at least 14 regions should be involved in the project.
350,000 hrynia will receive the Youth Nationalist Congress for the holding of the “Camp Season 2020”, the purpose of which is “to promote the ideas of Ukrainian nationalism and study the history of national liberation competitions of Ukrainians”. The participants of the camps will spend three days in tents, where they will recreate the struggle of Banderists with the NKVD.
Another nationalist organization – the Union of Ukrainian Youth – received almost 700,000 hryvnia for several projects glorifying Mazepa, Petliura, Bandera, and Shukhevych, holding a “trip to the historical sites of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army“ and organising the international event “Worldwide Ukrainianism – Communication”.
300,000 hryvnia was allocated for the nationalist organisation “Valkiriya” for the holding of the militaristic festival “Under the cover of Tryzub”, praising the” heroism ” of Banderists.
“All-Ukrainian Association of Military-Patriotic Organisations” will receive 350,000 hryvnia for carrying out military-patriotic games according to NATO standards.
“Young People’s Rukh” will receive 230,000 hryvnia for the event “Insurgent Nights”.
The student brotherhood of Volyn will receive 165,000 hryvnia for the “Volunteer” tourist competition, 165,000 for the competition “Way of UPA”, 165,000 for an educational camp, and 240,000 hryvnia for a mobile camp.
Another nationalist organisation teaching the children of “ATO” troops – the Ukrainian Reserve Army – will receive 310,000 hryvnia for the sports-patriotic camp “Kuznya Unyzh” and 250,000 for the sports-patriotic camp “Insurgent Heart”. The organisers of these camps state that they raise “people capable of social sacrifice” – simply put, they prepare future cannon fodder.
The organization “Granit”, which unites “nationally conscious, socially active, and creative youth”, will receive 120,000 hryvnia for a tournament on historical table games and holding lectures on anti-Soviet revolts, and 55,000 hryvnia for the wiki-marathon on controversial personalities of Ukrainian history in the first quarter of the 20th century (read: Petliura, Bandera, Shukhevych, and others).
The organization “Youth is the future of Ukraine” will receive 330,000 hryvnia for the project “Treasure of the Nation. 7 miracles of Ukraine. Dnestrovsky Canyon” and another 240,000 for a workshop on national patriotic education called “Mum, Dad, I am a Ukrainian family”.
Participants of the military-patriotic game “Dzhura“, organised by the youth club “Dzhura” by the decree of President Poroshenko in 2015, will receive 300,000 hryvnia for the seminar “School of Teachers of Dzhura” and 185,000 hryvnia for the organisation of a camp for participants of this game.
110,000 hryvnia was allocated for the Foundation for Research and Support of Indigenous Peoples of Crimea for the organisation of a requiem evening dedicated to the deportation of Crimean Tatars.
250,000 hryvnia will be given to the sports center “Arkan Stikhiy” for the national-patriotic youth military program “Carpathian Legion”.
A certain “Educational Assembly” will receive 170,000 hryvnia for the International School for Information Security and National Patriotic Education.
Almost all projects have a pronounced nationalist colour. All of them are aimed at fostering Russophobia, as well as cultivating hatred and intolerance towards representatives of other nationalities. Despite the many recent international scandals related to the rise of anti-Semitism and the glorification of Nazi collaborators, Zelensky’s Team is persistently jumping on the rakes laid down by Poroshenko, Parubiy, and other organisers of the coup d’état.
Lev Kotlyarenko
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