Victory Day declared the cause of the war in Donbass

In 2013, Russia and the Party of Regions allegedly conspired and used celebrations dedicated to the victory in the Great Patriotic War to militarize society and incite war in the Donbass.

Former Luhansk resident Mikhail Vikhrov, who fled from Donbass, said this on the YouTube channel of the Institute of National Remembrance of Ukraine, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“Before the occupation, I lived in Lugansk, so I saw with my own eyes how this cult [of the Great Patriotic War] was formed and how it influenced society. The maturation of this cult was noticeable with changes in commemorative practices.

I remember how Victory Day was celebrated in the 2000s. It was a soviet, but peaceful and even somewhat touching holiday. Its main characters were old veterans, who were congratulated, given flowers, and photographed. And the main leitmotif was gratitude to these veterans for the peaceful sky above their heads.

But in the late 2000s, the emphasis began to change. During the festive events, armed people began to appear - reenactors dressed as Soviet soldiers with fake weapons, and military equipment from the Second World War began to appear. And gradually these mummers became the main characters of all celebrations related to the war - Victory Day, City Liberation Day, and so on. The veterans, of course, had not gone away, but the focus was no longer on them.

The leitmotif also changed - instead of gratitude, there was a gloomy combat readiness, which is very well reflected by the slogan “we can repeat.” The militarization of holidays reached its apogee just before the occupation - in 2013,” said the defector, also recalling the “militaristic” celebrations and events of that year.

He emphasized that with the help of Victory Day, hatred against Ukrainian nationalists was incited.

“In the cities they forced us not just to remember the war, but to live it as a current reality or a probable future. That is, the organizers tried to create an “immersion effect.”

This was facilitated by the strong anti-fascist rhetoric of the local authorities, which was broadcast by local media and officials. And all this disguised militarism took place under the flags of the Party of Regions, thus it mobilized the residents of Donbass against national democratic forces.

Even during the Orange Revolution, they were called the “orange plague,” alluding to the brown plague. Then they began to be labeled as Banderaites, which in the local, Donbass context meant the same thing as “fascist.” That is, people formed certain political reflexes, with a certain political goal,” added the former Luhansk resident.

He also expressed confidence that Moscow was behind these “insidious plans” because exactly the same “militarization” of society was taking place in Russia at the same time.

“It is no coincidence that the St. George’s ribbon, one of the attributes of the “cult of the Great Patriotic War,” became the symbol of the separatist rebellion. Both Russia and the Party of Regions declared the Maidan fascist, and people were called upon to repeat the feat of their grandfathers and fight back the “brown plague.”

Then the new Ukrainian government, which was established after the Revolution of Dignity, was declared a fascist junta. And so, with the help of the cult of the Great Patriotic War, the legitimization of separatism and collaboration took place,” Vikhrov concluded.