Kyiv Post | 28Jan2010 | Unknown
http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/58201/
Bandera gets an award
President VictorYushchenko posthumously awards 20th century nationalist
leader Stepan Bandera the nation’s highest honor inciting indignation
from Russia and pro-Russian politicians.
President Victor Yushchenko on Jan. 22, 2010 gave Ukraine’s highest
honor, Hero of Ukraine, to controversial freedom fighter Stepan Bandera
(Jan. 1, 1909 – Oct. 15, 1959). Bandera headed the Organization of
Ukrainian Nationalists and backed the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA),
which fought against the Soviets and Nazis for Ukraine’s independence.
But Soviet and Russian propaganda has convinced many in Ukraine and
abroad that the UPA collaborated with the Nazis.
[photo]
To protest the award, Kostyantyn Zarudnev, a Sevastopol lawmaker,
burned his Ukrainian passport on Jan. 24, 2010.
The Kremlin and Jewish groups also protested. Considered a hero by many
Ukrainians, Bandera was killed by a KGB agent in Munich on Oct. 15,
1959.