Ukraine marks Day of Victory over Nazism in World War II

The Day of Victory over Nazism in the World War II was established as a state holiday by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on April 9, 2015.

As the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory notes, the new content of the celebration of the Victory Day over Nazism implies rethinking the World War II events, dispelling the Soviet historical myths, conducting an honest dialogue on the complicated pages of the past. Today, the people, who fought against the Nazism, are commemorated, and the solidarity and combat brotherhood of all the United Nations, both states and stateless peoples, is honored.

According to various estimates, from 8 to 10 million people, including about 5 million civilians, were killed during the World War II in Ukraine. At the same time, 2.2 million were delivered to the Nazi Germany for the forced labor. Over 700 towns and urban-type settlements and nearly 30,000 villages were completely ruined.

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