The decision to rename a street after a battalion that fought alongside the Nazis during World War II is shameful, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Friday, commenting on the fact that Peace Street in the village of Razliv in western Ukraine's Lvov region was renamed Nachtigall Battalion Warriors Street.
"I was shocked. It's hard to imagine such things taking place in our country... It's a shame for our country," Azarov said.
The street renaming was initiated by the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party and supported by members of Yulia Tymoshenko's party.
"I want to ask Europe, which supports certain representatives of BYuT party, if it supports such policy of this party. It is cynical," the PM said.
The pro-presidential Party of Regions has already asked the Prosecutor General's Office to study the case and give a legal assessment.
Two battalions, Nachtigall and Roland, were formed from ethnic Ukrainians in Nazi-occupied Poland in February 1941. They were among the first units to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941, but were disbanded in August after Germany failed to declare an independent Ukraine.
Shortly after Nazi troops entered Ukraine in June 1941, nationalist leader Stepan Bandera called on Ukrainians "to help the German army in defeating Moscow and Bolshevism." On June 30 the Nachtigall Battalion entered Lvov. The documentary record shows that its members committed atrocities against the Jewish population.
"I was shocked. It's hard to imagine such things taking place in our country... It's a shame for our country," Azarov said.
The street renaming was initiated by the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party and supported by members of Yulia Tymoshenko's party.
"I want to ask Europe, which supports certain representatives of BYuT party, if it supports such policy of this party. It is cynical," the PM said.
The pro-presidential Party of Regions has already asked the Prosecutor General's Office to study the case and give a legal assessment.
Two battalions, Nachtigall and Roland, were formed from ethnic Ukrainians in Nazi-occupied Poland in February 1941. They were among the first units to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941, but were disbanded in August after Germany failed to declare an independent Ukraine.
Shortly after Nazi troops entered Ukraine in June 1941, nationalist leader Stepan Bandera called on Ukrainians "to help the German army in defeating Moscow and Bolshevism." On June 30 the Nachtigall Battalion entered Lvov. The documentary record shows that its members committed atrocities against the Jewish population.
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