http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/19/stalin-portraits-ukraine-rebel-territory
Pro-Russian rebels put up images of mass-murderer Joseph Stalin in Donetsk. Imagine what the Russian media would have made of someone putting up pictures of Hitler in Kiev.
Well Scorza, there are few things to take into consideration.
Stalin is for sure a dubious character but he isnt recognized as the ultimate evil unlike Hitler, whether you like it or not. If I remember correctly, Nazi symbolism is banned in whole of Europe while Soviet (apart from Eastern European countries) is not... Walk in downtown London or NYC with portrait of Stalin and then do same with Hitler and see the reaction.
But lets get away from that, I think we all agree that Nazis were bad right? Well you see, the issue, is that in western Ukraine they are sorta confused... Because their favorite hero "Stepan Bandera"... Lets put aside the whole affiliation with Nazi`s and all that nonsense which Ukranians argue that all that is a total lie... Forget about that.
Lets see in what glorious non-nazi activities did UPA participate.
The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (Polish: rzeź wołyńska, literally: Volhynian slaughter; Ukrainian: Волинська трагедія, Volyn tragedy) were part of an ethnic cleansing operation carried out in Nazi German-occupied Poland by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)'s North Command in the regions of Volhynia (Reichskommissariat Ukraine) and their South Command in Eastern Galicia (General Government) beginning in March 1943 and lasting until the end of 1944.[4][5][6] The peak of the massacres took place in July and August 1943. Most of the victims were women and children.[4] The actions of the UPA resulted in 35,000-60,000 Polish deaths in Volhynia and 25,000-40,000 in Eastern Galicia.[3][7][8] For other estimates, see the tables below.
In 2008, the massacres committed by the Ukrainian nationalists against ethnic Poles in Volhynia and Galicia were described by Poland's Institute of National Remembrance as bearing the distinct characteristics of a genocide.[13][14]
Women and Children?
Glorious!
Surely one would condemn such organization and their leader? Well,no... not really... They have monuments to him in Lvov, they carried his portrait on Maidan, and remember that red/black flag? Yup, its the flag of UPA. Is it banned? Of-course not!!! Its also the flag of completely legalized political party called "Right-Sector"... Mind you, all soviet emblems are now completely banned in Ukraine.
You also have to understand that there is fundamental difference between Stalin monuments and whole UPA and Bandera worshiping, Stalin monuments do not carry the dangerous and vile ideology of Nationalism and superiority that the UPA and Bandera carried and is so closely tied to Nazism.
Stalin as bad as he is, never said that the Russians were superior race and that the Russians were above all... Quite opposite, there was the whole idea of friendship between ethnicities and moreover, you have to remember that Stalin was Georgian, he always spoke in Russian with a heavy accent. Yes there was behind the scenes gulags and deportations etc, but it wasnt spread onto the common people to hate other ethnicity on contrary it was throwned upon, friendship and tolerance were encouraged, which is opposite to what happened in Nazi-Germany and what is now happening in Ukraine where they hate anything and everything Russian. I`ve seen plenty of interviews on Ukranian TV where they said that its great that Crimea has left because all the "backwards Russians" will no longer pull Ukraine back from its glorious future. All those constant references that Donbass and Crimea were useless regions sucking out money from prosperous Ukraine and actually its quite common to call Donbass "Daunbass" which is pretty much saying "Down-Syndrome Donbass".
In short, there always been statues of "Almost Hitler" in Kiev and Lvov. Its vile that the flag of UPA hasnt been banned and compared to Swastika by law.
