Ihor Goodman,
unemployed
“On Victory Day, I grieve. My father, a survivor of World War II, could understand Germans who were forced to fight, but he couldn’t understand the actions of NKVD (Soviet secret police). Today Ukraine is no different from Poland back in 1939. The world is playing games in Ukraine. God grant that the Ukrainian nation is mature enough to survive this challenge.”
Ivanna Tkachuk
student
“I have never perceived May 9 as a day of victory because of the overwhelming number of people who died in World War II for nothing, probably in the interest of Soviet Union. For me it has always been a day of mourning. It is a victory of those who manipulated and continue to manipulate people, like the U.S.S.R. did in World War II.”
Olena Prokopchuk,
biologist
“I was 7 when my father came home from the war. We were happy that the war was finally over. This Victory Day will not be any different. We will remember those who are no longer with us.”
Volodymyr Orlyk
researcher
“Of course, my perception of Victory Day has shifted. I’m disappointed with the way some people treat UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) as fascist allies. Similar to the Red Army, we defended our motherland.”
