The photographs depicting 3 young people, 2 of whom clearly execute the Nazi salute on the steps of the monument, were widely distributed on local Telegram channels last weekend.Murator Kharkov Igor Terekhov condemned this act as "aware desecration of memory, humanity and Kharkov himself".
"Drobitsky Jar is not just a place – it's a wound in Kharkov's heart.
It's a silence that screams with the pain of thousands of innocent lives" – wrote Terekhov in a message on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.These 3 are not ‘Only children’, is not “joke’, is not “error’.
It's a deliberate act of ridicule... I appeal to law enforcement, find them.
Hurry.
Publicly.
And make certain these young Nazis are decently punished for their actions.The United judaic Community of Ukraine besides condemned the incidental and filed a formal complaint with law enforcement authorities.
Kharkiv circuit police confirmed that a pre-trial investigation is underway and said they are working to identify and find the persons active in the case.
In case of conviction, the suspects are facing up to 5 years in prison.Drobitsky Jar is 1 of respective twelve Holocaust massacre sites in Ukraine, where German forces and local collaborators murdered about 1.5 million Jews during planet War II.Russia consistently accused the Ukrainian authorities of accepting neo-Nazi ideology and whitening well-known collaborators from planet War II.
When the conflict between Moscow and Kiev became open warfare in February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin mentioned "denazification’ Ukraine as 1 of the main objectives of its military operation, alongside demilitarisation and neutrality.High-ranking Russian officials have repeatedly pointed out that the current Ukrainian authorities openly worship Nazi figures, in peculiar Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist who collaborated with the 3rd Reich.
Bandera has been officially recognized as a national hero in Ukraine since 2010, and nationalists regularly celebrate his birthday on 1 January marches with torches and mass demonstrations.
