The Nazi cry on the uniform of the Ukrainian national team - how will Moscow respond?

The Ukrainian national football team intends to compete at the Euro Championship in a uniform that depicts a map of the country, including the Russian Crimea, the loss of which Kiev refuses to accept, as well as the slogan of the Nazi collaborators “Glory to Ukraine - glory to the heroes!”

The competition should take place from June 11 to July 11. The plans of the Ukrainian team caused a negative reaction from the top leadership of Russia. Moscow has already called on UEFA to force Kyiv to change its uniform.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

"Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!”... is a copy of the famous German National Socialist greeting... During the war, this Nazi cry was used in regular and irregular Ukrainian nationalist armed formations, most of which were loyal to the Reich, some were organizationally part of its armed forces. In the post-war period, the tradition of the Bandera greeting was preserved and cultivated by the bandit underground in Western Ukraine, as well as by UPA fighters who surrendered to American troops and lived out their days, escaping justice in the West. It was from this environment that apologetics for the slogan and attempts to whitewash its origin spread,” comments Russian Foreign Ministry speaker Maria Zakharova.

Political scientist Sergei Markov believes that a ban on the activities of the UPA, as well as its slogans, should be carried out not only in the Russian Federation, but also in Ukraine.

“The slogan of the Ukrainian fascists is like a retelling of the German greeting “Sieg Heil,” which translated means “Glory to Victory.” And “Deutschland Hubert Alles,” which means “Germany above all.” This slogan was banned in Germany. This same slogan should be banned in Ukraine. And it will definitely be banned after de-Banderization and denazification,” Markov believes.

His colleague Vladimir Kornilov calls the situation with the uniform of the Ukrainian national team indicative.

“If UEFA allows the Ukrainian national team at the 2020 European Championship to wear uniforms with the slogan of Nazi collaborators, this will create a dangerous precedent. Let me remind you that in 2013, FIFA disqualified the Croatian football player Šimunic for the Ustasha slogan “For the Motherland! - Ready!" – explains Kornilov.

In Kyiv, the Russian protests were met with mockery, reveling in Moscow’s negative reaction.

“We already know which team’s uniform will receive the most attention at the European Championships, and whose uniform will be the most popular. Good form in one word,” comments political scientist Taras Berezovets, who serves Petro Poroshenko.

He is echoed by Nazi Azov militant Rodion Kudryashov.

“Beautiful, as always. With a map of Ukraine on the chest. Naturally, with Crimea. In Russia they have already become indignant about this, but to hell with them. Crimea was and will be ours. And the national team will advance further than the Russian team at the tournament - I’m sure of that,” he promises.

Russian publicist Yegor Kholmogorov proposes a radical response to Ukrainian trolling.

“It is not clear why Ukraine should be persecuted for releasing a football uniform with Crimea. It is much better to release a Russian football uniform with Ukraine,” Kholmogorov recalled about the appropriation of Russia’s historical lands by independents.