A Kiev artery renamed in the name of a Nazi leader? This was reported on Sunday by François Asselineau (UPR), presidential candidate who is struggling in the collection of sponsorships. “Moscow Avenue was renamed “Stepan Bandera Avenue”, one of the main Nazi Ukrainians”, is he alarmed on Twitter.
Words that echo Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric on the alleged need for “denazification of Ukraine”. To justify his statement, François Asselineau quotes an article from the Swiss media Le Nouvellistepublished in reality on July 7, 2016. “Ukraine: an avenue in Kiev renamed by the name of a former Nazi collaborator”, then headlined our colleagues.
Why was Moscow Avenue renamed? Can Stepan Bandera really be considered a Nazi leader? 20 minutes conducted the investigation.
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As stated in the article from the Nouvelliste, the decision taken by the city of Kiev dates back to 2016. As part of the “decommunization laws” adopted in 2015, Ukraine wanted to distance the symbols linked to a common past with the Soviet Union, but also with Russia. By virtue of these texts, the city council of the capital has therefore decided to rename Moscow Avenue “Stepan-Bandera Avenue”.
“A very ethnic vision”
“Ukraine has a complex history. It’s not all black or all white, underlines Sabine Dullin, historian specializing in Russia and Western Europe and author of The Irony of Fate, a story of the Russians and their empire (Payot). Stepan Bandera is one of the heroes of Ukrainian independence, even if he has his dark side. »
Following the German-Soviet pact, signed in 1939, Ukraine was divided in two. “In the West, Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) wanted to collaborate with the Nazis to fight against the Soviet Union. He tries to obtain their support, but does not succeed and is even imprisoned, ”continues the historian. Before specifying: “He is indeed someone who has a very ethnic vision of Ukrainian nationalism. He dreamed of a national territory rid of Jews, Poles and Russians. »
This past week, some Ukrainian demonstrators have also shown their attachment to their country by displaying two-tone red and black flags, corresponding to those of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, commanded by nationalist Stepan Bandera. But is the use of this flag proof of the “Nazification” of Ukraine decried by Vladimir Putin? “We can denounce Bandera’s integral Ukrainian nationalism, which has followers in contemporary Ukraine, but much less than Putin claims”, nuance Sabine Dullin.
According to the historian, since 2014, “Ukrainian national construction has taken on a more civic than ethnic dimension. In 2015, demonstrations by Ukrainian ultranationalists in Kiev claiming to be Stepan Bandera sparked protests from Moscow.