Skip to main content
Morning Star Conference
Israel rebukes Ukraine over celebrations of Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera
Activists of various nationalist parties shout slogans and carry torches during a rally to mark the birth anniversary of Stepan Bandera, founder of a rebel army that fought against the Soviet regime and who was assassinated in Germany in 1959, in Kyiv, Ukraine

ISRAEL has issued its strongest rebuke yet of Ukraine’s sanction of neonazi activity, with its ambassador condemning “glorification of collaborators with the Nazi regime.”

Joel Lion condemned a torchlit New Year’s Day march through Kiev honouring Stepan Bandera, the head of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its armed wing the Ukrainian Insurgent Army which fought alongside the Nazis during the second world war.

Marchers carried banners reading: “Nationalism is our religion, Bandera is our prophet.”

The march has become an annual tradition since the fascist-backed “Maidan” coup against Ukraine’s elected leader Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

The OUN played a major role in the Holocaust in Ukraine, murdering hundreds of thousands of Jews and Poles in its fight for an ethnically “pure” nation.

Its fighters have been rehabilitated as anti-communist heroes by the far-right government since 2014.

In Bandera’s birthplace Lviv, regional leader Maxim Kozitsky was among those attending events celebrating Bandera’s life, laying a wreath on a monument to him.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
The Morning Star AGM in Salford
Features / 7 June 2025
7 June 2025

Editor BEN CHACKO explains why next weekend’s Morning Star conference is not to be missed

Your Paper / 28 May 2025
28 May 2025

Our roving AGM from this Thursday through Sunday and our upcoming Morning Star Conference 2025 on June 14 in London are great opportunities to meet the team and help plan the way forward, says editor BEN CHACKO

Similar stories
THE OTHER UKRAINE: The Saur-Mogila Soviet memorial near the city of Snizhne in Donetsk Oblast has been massively expanded in Soviet style, while in other parts of the country, Soviet statues were torn down
War / 13 May 2025
13 May 2025

As Britain marks 80 years since defeating fascism, it finds itself in a proxy war against Russia over Ukraine — DANIEL POWELL examines Churchill’s secret plan to attack our Soviet allies in 1945 and traces how Nato expansion, a Western-backed coup and neo-nazi activism contributed to todays' devastating conflict

Mourners gather in 2019 to mark the fifth anniversary of the
Editorial: / 14 March 2025
14 March 2025
Memorial candles are lit during a Holocaust Memorial Day com
Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 / 27 January 2025
27 January 2025
The proponents and enablers of Holocaust distortion and anti-communism now have increasing political power and influence in a number of European countries, obstructing an understanding of the reality of fascism’s crimes, warns MARY DAVIS
Firefighters put out the fire after the Russia's guided air
World / 1 September 2024
1 September 2024