By the end of the 1930s the Ukrainians had suffered a Holocaust level genocide -- 5 to 11 million murdered (depending on whose estimate you believe) by an NKVD orchestrated artificial famine.
To many Ukrainians, the Nazis were liberating them from Communist mass murderers.
Much like Jews later saw the Communists as liberating them from Nazi mass murderers.
That was the Nazis big mistake. They should have just created a Ukrainian Puppet state, like they did for Slovakia, with some autonomy, most Ukrainians would have supported this over Stalin.
That is a more realistic view of things.
Peter Hitchens posted a link on Twitter last week noting the monuments to Nazi collaboration in Ukraine and other places in Eastern Europe Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians among others saw Nazis as liberators but they ended up helping in evil deeds perpetrated by the Nazis...
https://twitter.com/ClarkeMicah/status/1663245361291358208
Yes and Jews were associated with the Soviets or commies whatever
And uke civilians butchered them at levels that appalled even Nazi units at first so much they recorded it so they wouldn’t be blamed and much was done by hand like Rwanda style
This friction and violence goes back a ways there probably to before Middle Ages with these groups
And apparently still around
The you’ve got the catholic orthodox thing and the orthodox orthodox thing
Ukraine and Eastern Europe in general is pretty bloody damn place honestly
The irony or silliness I guess is our media has a meltdown if some 20dummies march around carrying historical flags yet support a nation which has a large intimidating neo Nazi military bloc(s)
Funded and managed by oligarchs who were instrumental in 2014 maiden and installing Zekensky candidacy
And who are nearly all including the leading one Jewish themselves
This is a nuts nation
BTW, the Soviet hammer and sickle battle flag is common among russian units.
In the end, the commies have had a much longer reign and slaughtered far more people.
The Ukrainians weren’t without blame.
You may want to research the “Khatyn Massacre”. The Schutzmannschaft Battalion, which was comprised of mostly Ukrainian volunteers and the dreaded Dirlewanger Battalion raped, shot and burned alive inhabitants of this Belarusian village. Only 2 villagers survived and 149 perished.
The film “ Come And See” portrays this massacre. It’s not pretty.
Ukrainian collaborators assisted the Nazis in the attempted genocide of Belarusians by shooting and burning Eastern Belarusians alive, along with their villages.
I don’t care what the USSR did to Ukraine; There’s absolutely no excuse for those particular Ukrainians committing such atrocities and attempting the genocide of the Belarusians.
I know that today’s Ukrainians aren’t to blame, but they have an ugly history and not all Ukrainians were “victims”.