Professor of Ukrainian Catholic University and historian Yaroslav Hrytsak spoke in the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on February 25 during public hearings titled “The Ukraine Factor – Ukraine’s World War II Legacy and Understanding Its Important Role in the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany.”
The event was chaired by Conservative politician and Member of Parliament Sir Iain Duncan Smith. The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, joined the event online. Also participating were the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and a group of scholars, including Dr. Olenka Pevna from the Department of Ukrainian and Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge; British military historian and writer Antony James Beevor; Professor Andrew Wilson of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London (UCL); and Professor Olia Hnatiuk of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Honorary Professor at the University of Warsaw. Professor Yaroslav Hrytsak of Ukrainian Catholic University joined the event online.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi speaks in the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
During the discussion, it was noted that Soviet Russia systematically suppressed and distorted the history of Ukraine’s role in World War II. Putin continues to use this narrative today. The speakers discussed the biases that still exist in contemporary Western and Russian narratives that downplay Ukraine’s role in World War II, in particular the claim that the Nazis were defeated exclusively by Russia. They emphasized that Putin uses this narrative to persuade the West (including President Trump) that Ukraine cannot win the current war launched by Russia. The participants stressed that Ukrainians constituted the main force within the troops of the Soviet Union.
“When Putin denies the role of Ukrainians in the victory over Hitler, he is saying nothing original. The tradition of silencing the Ukrainian experience in World War II dates back to Stalin’s times. This tradition also spread in the West, and that is openly unjust,” Yaroslav Hrytsak noted in his speech.
The historian also emphasized that the achievements of Ukrainians during World War II are evidenced by their decorations. Every third mobilized Ukrainian received a medal for bravery; moreover, every fifth Hero of the Soviet Union was Ukrainian.
Yaroslav Hrytsak speaks in the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Speaking about the current war, Yaroslav Hrytsak stated:
“The problem is not only Putin. The problem is the Russian political system, which elevates monsters to the summit of power, such as Ivan the Terrible, Peter I, Nicholas I, Lenin, Stalin, and now Putin. This system cannot survive without repressing its own people and subjugating neighboring nations. In short, it is a killer state.”
