KIEV, October 14 (Itar-Tass) — The Ukrainian Party of Regions has described as a cynical provocation the decision of deputies to the local council of the village of Railiv, Lvov Region, to rename a village street from the Peace Street to the Street for Soldiers of Nachtigall Battalion of the Wehrmacht. This is said in a statement of the Party of Regions, placed on its official site in the Internet.
“We emphatically denounce the attempts of any political forces to advocate Nazism, which is a shameful phenomenon in the world history,” the statement stressed.
The Party of Region reminded that casualties of that monstrous war had been running into millions. ”We must not remain indifferent to the attempts of rehabilitation and glorification of the accomplices of Nazi invaders. We must not permit to name the streets of our cities and villages in honour of those, who fought on the side of the Nazis,” the statement continued. The Party of Regions expressed a resolute protest against such steps and urged the Prosecutor-General’s Office to evaluate the incident from the legal point of view. It urged the Ukrainian people to be vigilant on issues connected with their history. The ruling party of the country reported that it would not allow “to distort history and to insult the memory of those who gave their lives at the war, defending people’s right to life and freedom.”
The Nachtigall battalion was created in February 1941 as a Ukrainian legion in the German army, for taking part in the war against the USSR. According to various reports, its numerical strength was some 400 men – members of the “Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists” under the command of Roman Shukhevich. In the summer of 1941 the Nachtigall battalion took part in combat operations against the Red Army on the Ukrainian territory. In October 1941 it was re-formed and sent to Belarus, where it fought guerrilla detachments until its disbandment in December 1942.