Today Kyiv celebrates Liberation Day to mark the 70th anniversary of the Red Army’s rout of Nazi Germany from Kyiv during World War II.
As part of the celebrations, the Kyiv subway played war
songs for the passengers while “Happy Kyiv Liberation Day” banners were put on
the walls and in the advertising lightboxes.
The banner, however, provoked scandal when photographer
Vladyslav Sodel noticed that one of the two photos used in it, a
black-and-white image of civilians welcoming soldiers in the city streets, has
nothing to do with Kyiv. The photo was made on May 9, 1945 in Prague and shows
citizens’ reactions to Soviet soldiers entering the Czech capital.
Representatives of public service announcements
department of Kyivreklama, a city-owned company that sanctions all advertising
before it goes on street, say they never approved the said banner. The metro
administration couldn’t be reached for comments.
As Sodel noticed, the right upper corner of the photo
even has a shop sign written in Latin letters instead of Cyrillic. The photo was made by Soviet photographer Anatoliy Yegorov.
The banner was broadcasted on a screen during President Viktor Yanukovych’s address at the opening of Teremky metro station on Nov. 6.
