UPA Memorial allegedly dismantled to mark the Day of the Chekist and Stalin’s birthday

The leadership of the Eurasian Youth Union [EYU] is claiming responsibility for dismantling the UPA [Ukrainian Resistance Army] Memorial in Kharkiv.

The leader of the EYU “Network Headquarters”, Pavlo Zarifullin told UNIAN: “The action was organized in response to numerous acts of vandalism against Soviet and Russian monuments in Ukraine, and especially in Halychyna [Western Ukraine]. The UPA Monument was chosen because we consider it a fascist organization which served the Nazi killers. We consider Kharkiv and Ukraine to be our Russian land and therefore we cannot allow monuments to fascists in Ukraine”.

The message from the Eurasian Youth Union received by UNIAN had said that on 20 December to mark

the Day of the Chekist and Stalin’s birthday in the Youth Park in Kharkiv “the funeral took place of the Memorial Stone to the Ukrainian Resistance Army”.

The Head of the Department for liaison with law enforcement agencies, defence and mobilization work and civic defence of the Kharkiv regional administration Oleksandr Nechyporenko called the dismantling of the monument to the UPA soldiers a provocative act with far-reaching consequences. On the subject of the EYU flag and symbols left in the Youth Park, the Head of the Department said that he had been assured by another leader of the Union that the latter was not involved.

The Eurasian Youth Union is an organization aimed at the pro-Russian, pro-Eurasian part of the population. Its aim is the restoration of the empire within the framework of the former Soviet Union. It is notorious in Ukraine for its anti-President and anti-Ukrainian protest actions.

see also:
• Court releases pending trial five of those accused of violence in Kharkiv on 16 December
• Court hearing into the disturbances in Kharkiv on 16 December scheduled for 28 March
• Demands in Kharkiv voiced for an objective investigation into the mass violence on 16 December
• Investigation of the Kharkiv disturbances stalls
• Fracas in Kharkiv was a planned provocation
• SBU has identified 40 “activists” involved in the Kharkiv disturbances of 16 December
• Prosecutor launches criminal investigation against Kharkiv police
• SBU launches criminal investigation into crowd disturbance
• “During the attack in Kharkiv the police did nothing”
• Kharkiv residents appeal to the central authorities
• Attack on Memorial to UPA Soldiers in Kharkiv
• “The Mayor of Kharkiv and the Secretary of the City Council, abetted by the police, provoke mass disturbances and beatings”
• Can you step into the same river twice?