Veteran of the Great Patriotic War refused to fraternize with Bandera on air
On the eve of Victory Day, on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel “UA: First”, the presenters of the program tried to “reconcile” a veteran of the Great Patriotic War and a Hitler collaborator who fought in the ranks of the UPA, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“First of all, the end of the war was for us the beginning of the second Soviet occupation. Why? Because we knew, like in ’39-41, what mountains of corpses the NKVD and the USSR left on our territory,” said “UPA warrior” Nikolai Petrushchak over the telephone.
At the same time, he was not against communicating with his opponent, citing the fact that he did not hold a grudge, since the Soviet soldier was “conscripted” and “simply followed orders.”
“Then, when after the war they came in for the second time (Soviet power - ed.), we knew that the Soviet occupation was worse than the Nazis. Here in Galicia, it was freer under the German occupation,” the Bandera member recalled.
“Mr. Vasily, would you like to address Mr. Nikolai with some words?” – asked the presenter of the Great Patriotic War veteran Vasily Klyuy, introduced in the studio as “a soldier of the Red Army, a participant in the Second World War.”
“I wouldn’t speak personally now, but I can say that we didn’t have a single person from the western regions, on any of the boats, either in the command staff or in the privates,” Klyuy answered with disgust.
“How do you feel about the UPA soldiers, what do you want to say to Mr. Petrushchak, a UPA soldier?” - the TV presenter insisted.
“I simply did not come into contact or be with these units, not a single one, never during the war, this never happened,” the veteran clarified.
“Did you communicate with the UPA wars live?” – the journalist did not give up.
“This didn’t happen on the Black Sea. And in peacetime they not only met. We had representatives of them, I can name them by last name, because after their traces that we had, especially here in the western regions and in Vinnitsa, and in the Kirovograd region, some of our bosses, leaders and foremen, and district leaders remained - so Just like during the war, we buried them. It was very, very bad.
This is one thing, and the second was the government’s decision to send experienced knowledgeable people, even directors of individual machine and tractor stations, to create and strengthen the corresponding MTS of Western Ukraine. We sent three people. Of the three, one returned; we went there to pick up two and buried them here. It was very... not that unpleasant...” said Klyuy.
“I understand how difficult it is for you to remember these events,” the presenter hastily interrupted the veteran.
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