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MP warns about possible provocations in Ukraine at Labor Day, Victory Day demonstrations

On April 9, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law condemning and criminalising Communist and Nazi regimes and banning their propaganda and public use of their symbols

© Archive ITAR-TASS/Anatoli Zhdanov

MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. The deputy speaker of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic warns about possible provocations in Ukraine on May 1 (Labour Day) and May 9 (Victory Day), against people who will take part in demonstrations carrying red flags or wearing St. George ribbons - a symbol of military glory in some countries of the former Soviet Union.

"Soviet symbols have been banned in Ukraine. So it is not safe for Ukrainian people to have them during May holidays," Denis Pushilin said, adding that people should fear not arrests but provocations by radical activists.

"It is they who may instigate a conflict or beat up [war] veterans," the Donetsk News Agency quotes him as saying. The deputy speaker expressed doubts that mass arrests for Soviet symbols could start in Ukraine shortly, believing they could be expected no earlier than in two or three years.

On April 9, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law condemning and criminalising Communist and Nazi regimes and banning their propaganda and public use of their symbols.

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Ukraine crisis Eastern Ukraine

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