Our 80th VE celebrations were hijacked by Starmer’s government in a distasteful and insane attempt to propagandise their Ukraine proxy war. Sir Keir Starmer has shown his contempt for the sacrifices made by the British people in the Second World War, by his organising of Ukrainian troops to be part of the British Armed Service personnel procession on VE Day.
This news is seen as an affront by many service personnel and Armed Services veterans, who are staggered that a country which which was on Nazi Germany’s side in World War two, has been invited to march with them. It is felt that their day has been taken over to promote a political cause.
VE ( Victory in Europe) Day is to honour and respect the sacrifices of those who put their lives on the line to defend Britain and the Empire. It is also to celebrate the fortitude of those civilians and service personnel who strived for nearly six years to defend our freedoms and liberties.
The official theme of the VE day celebrations is “Lamplight of Peace,” and has evolved into inviting some of our former foes to attend within the context of peace and reconciliation, not promoting war in a current conflict.
In an underhand way, the government twisted the event to be all about Ukraine.The government said that the Ukrainian troops “joining together with the British troops for the procession, will symbolise the global support for Ukraine’s continued fight for freedom against Russia’s unprovoked illegal invasion.” This is a highly politicised and contentious statement and what has that got to do with “Lamplight for Peace?”They have shamelessly hijacked this major historical event to promote their Ukraine proxy war agenda.It really is not acceptable to do this.
Normally representatives of Russia are invited to this event because they were a key ally whose support was vital to victory being achieved over Nazi Germany. Twenty million Soviet military died in this conflict, including those from Ukraine. About 7 million Ukrainians served in the Red Army and there were about 1 million guerilla fighters out of a then population of about 31 million. But Ukraine went on to support Nazi Germany. This year, the government have snubbed Russia and attempted to whitewash the importance of the alliance of Britain, the then Soviet Union, and the USA in defeating Nazi Germany. Russia has called the move by Starmer as blasphemous and disrespectful. It really is insane to do this. It is indicative of the poor standard of diplomacy exhibited by British politicians, which puts the UK in a poor light on the world stage.
Many in Ukraine government circles openly celebrate the activities of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis units in the Second World War. They have a lot of political influence and have Azov military units. These things are glossed over or ignored by the Labour government. Ukraine became part of the Axis camp In the Second World War, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, of which Ukraine was a part, many Ukrainians took the side of the Nazis against the communist Russia. About a million Russians took the German Nazi side too, and the exact situation is complicated. However, the facts are that Ukrainian armed units made a major contribution to the German war effort: Approximately 250,000 native Ukrainians were enlisted by the Germans in various formations during World War II. This included units like the Nationalist Military Detachments (VVN), the Brotherhoods of Ukrainian Nationalists (DUN), the SS Division Galicia, the Ukrainian Liberation Army (UVV), and the Ukrainian National Army (UNA). Additionally, the SS employed 238,000 Ukrainian police in Reichskommissariat Ukraine alone by the end of 1942.
Inviting Ukrainian troops to be part of the VE procession is not only a denial of history, but also obscene for its poor taste. Ukrainian units were responsible for the mass murder of thousands of Jews in Lvov in June 1941 by the bizarrely named Nightingale Battalion. One armed organisation, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), aligned itself with Nazi Germany in July 1944. Amongst other activities, they fought against the Polish resistance and murdered between 50,000 and 100,000 Poles. The Ukrainian14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galacian) was founded in 1943 to fight the Soviet Army and Partisans. It lost thousands of men and was renamed and replenished in August 1944. There were many war crimes committed by this unit. They also helped suppress the Warsaw uprising in the autumn of 1944 and were loyal to Nazi Germany to the end. They were known to have helped capture British and American pilots from downed allied planes and hand them over to the Gestapo. They fought the British and Americans and 10,000 of them surrendered to British troops at the close of the war. A few thousand of these Waffen SS troops were allowed to live in the UK, something which has always been a matter of some controversy.
Why was Ukraine given special status in the procession? The country with a very dubious claim to be part of our VE celebration. It was not a country in the Second World War, but part of the Soviet Union. If the government wanted to honour those former parts of the Soviet Union, then they should have all had invitations to attend, including Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. You cannot ignore historical facts and select only Ukraine, just because it suits political purposes.
It makes a mockery of this special event for Ukraine troops to have been given special status in the procession. The focus on the procession should have been on those troops representing the UK and its allies during the Second World War, NOT those representing its foes! Britain was hugely supported by countries of the then Empire and it is an insult to give Ukraine status over them.
There is no reason not to invite representatives of former foes to attend in a different capacity for the promotion of peace and goodwill but Starmer’s decision to invite Ukraine to participate in the UK’s VE Day procession has risked the reputation of the event itself. VE Day parades are traditionally non-partisan and focused on honouring those who fought in World War II. The participation of Ukraine, given its current conflict with Russia, may be seen as taking sides and could alienate other participants or nations seeking to maintain neutrality in the ongoing war. This could diminish the parade’s role as a unifying commemoration. VE Day marks the end of World War II in Europe and is intended as a day of unity and remembrance for the defeat of fascism.
Mainstream media assisted the government’s psychological manipulation campaignThe Express did itself a massive disfavour by having a large article focussing on Ukrainian contribution to the Red Army but erasing mention of the Ukrainians who fought for the German Axis Army. This is all part of the government “us and them” propaganda. Psychologists argue that “Identity” is one of the most powerful unconscious voices. If you can get someone to believe “we are in this together,” then it brings about unity and support for the government’s Ukraine cause. The Ukraine march in the procession was key to this process. Ten Ukrainian military including three women, were carefully selected for this to evoke sympathy. They wore low key combat gear as opposed to formal military uniforms. As such they did not goose step, which the Ukrainians do for certain types of procession. Yet comments on the lines of “they do not goose step, which shows their differences with the Russians,” were made. They were also given a key position in the procession and allowed to display their flag much more obviously than other countries. The media when interviewing them, said things like, “you were on our side in the Second World War.” A disgraceful distortion of the facts.
Starmer does not care about the reputation of the VE day events or its essentially peaceful message. Starmer is clearly prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to promoting his Ukraine cause, whatever the cost in truth or financial terms.He has given the clear impression that he is not interested in the historical and patriotic importance of the event and thus has no concerns about protecting its reputation for the future. Starmer has demonstrated that his government does not care how important VE day is to the British public. His isolation from the feelings of the public in general and his general insensitivity has been shown by the recent election results.
We must remember our history and not abuse it politically. What is important is to learn from our history and to promote the benefits of peace and good will, rather than aggression and antagonism.
These are all reasons why the new Petition on Ukraine/Russia is so important to sign and share:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714303
Anthony Webber Independent Political Commentator
