The Ukrainian authorities will not ban Victory Day parades by veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which fought on the side of the Nazis in World War II, a deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.
The UPA fought against the Soviet Army during World War II. Following the invasion of German troops in the summer of 1941, one of its leaders, Stepan Bandera, called on Ukrainians "to help the German army in the fight against Moscow and Bolshevism."
"I think such parades will take place in western regions. We will not ban anything," Volodymyr Seminozhenko said.
He said the government's policy was the start of creating an atmosphere of tolerance in the country. "We will see to it that there are no excesses," the deputy prime minister added.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said the controversy over his predecessor's naming Bandera a national hero will be settled before this year's Victory Day, marked on May 9.
Former President Viktor Yushchenko, known for his promotion of Ukrainian nationalism, often at the expense of relations with Russia, bestowed the honorary title of Hero of Ukraine on Bandera in late January.
The Soviet authorities accused Bandera, who fought both the Nazis and the Soviets in his quest for an independent Ukraine, of numerous acts of murder and terrorism. He was assassinated by the KGB in Munich, Germany, on October 15, 1959.
KIEV, March 31 (RIA Novosti)
