Ukraine Parliament Quotes Nazi Collaborator Stepan Bandera

Victory to Come When Russian Empire ‘Ceases to Exist’: Ukraine Parliament Quotes Nazi Collaborator Stepan Bandera

Stepan Bandera is revered as a hero by many Ukrainians for leading the political wing of the anti-Soviet independence movement, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Its military wing — the Ukrainian Insurgent Army — waged partisan warfare during and after World War II.

But Bandera — who was killed by a Soviet assassin in Munich in 1959 — is regarded as a traitor by others for leading an insurgent war against Soviet forces and collaborating with Nazi Germany. His forces also fought against the Nazis at times during the war and are accused of carrying out murderous campaigns against Poles and Jews.

Historian Karel Berkhoff, among others, has shown that Bandera, his deputies, and the Nazis shared a key obsession, namely the notion that the Jews in Ukraine were behind Communism and Stalinist imperialism and must be destroyed.  “The Jews of the Soviet Union,” read a Banderist statement, “are the most loyal supporters of the Bolshevik Regime and the vanguard of Muscovite imperialism in the Ukraine.”  When the Germans invaded the USSR in June 1941 and captured the East Galician capital of Lvov, Bandera’s lieutenants issued a declaration of independence in his name.  They further promised to work closely with Hitler, then helped to launch a pogrom that killed four thousand Lvov Jews in a few days, using weapons ranging from guns to metal poles.  “We will lay your heads at Hitler’s feet,” a Banderist pamphlet proclaimed to Ukrainian Jews.

Armed with these historical facts and many many more, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, or simply ‘Verkhovna Rada’ unicameral parliament of Ukraine. Tweeted a disturbing tweet with references to a quote by Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist and antisemite whose followers engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Jews and Poles during World War II

On Sunday, the Verkhovna Rada published on Twitter a photo of the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, General Valeriy Zaluzhny, next to a portrait of Bandera and quoted several passages from books written by him.

On Monday, the Polish Foreign Ministry and the Polish prime minister expressed their discontent with the Twitter post.

Quoting Ukrainian ultra-nationalist and antisemite Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian parliament on Monday declared that “the complete and supreme victory of Ukrainian nationalism will be when the Russian Empire ceases to exist.”

“Currently, the struggle with the Russian Empire continues,” the Verkhovna Rada posted on its official Twitter account, stating that Ukrainian Army Chief of Staff Valerii Zaluzhnyi was “well aware” of “these instructions of Stepan Bandera.”

The post was apparently accompanied by several quotes from Bandera and the words: “The current struggle is against the Russian Empire. And these directives of Stepan Bandera are well known to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces” ( “EvroPravda” did not find such a post on any of the pages of the Verkhovna Rada in social networks ).

The Tweet was also poorly received by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, it also left a lot of western allies embarrassed after the media have done so much work trying to downplay Ukraine’s far-right and Nazi associations.

Neither does it go down well with millions of British people, many of who had grandparents that fought and many died trying to keep Europe free of Nazis. The same grandparents are now in fear of poverty through fuel cost, a cost this government have said they should pay for the freedom of Ukraine.

For the Russians, it’s been like manna from the gods, no pun intended, proving to the world Ukraine is in the thrall of Nazi militias

Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk said that Poland opposed any celebration of Bandera. While the Ukrainian is hailed as a freedom fighter by some in his native land, he is also held responsible for the murder of around 100,000 Poles by his Ukrainian Insurgent Army in what became known as the Volhynia Massacre.

“There is no acceptance to commemorations of Stepan Bandera by the Polish state,” Mularczyk told Polish Radio. He added that the disappearance of the post from the Verkhovna Rada website indicated that the Ukrainian side “heard Poland’s voice”.

The Twitter post commemorating Stepan Bandera has now been taken down from the website of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (parliament) but not without condemnation and protests from Poland, and its minister on Tuesday.