Ukrainian president signs bill designating May 8 as ‘Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism’

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill on Monday designating May 8 as the "Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in the Second World War of 1939-1945."

The relevant law was posted on the website of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and will enter into force the day after it is published in the official parliamentary gazette.

The law was approved by the Verkhovna Rada on May 29, after Zelenskyy announced his intention to submit the bill to the parliament during a video address on May 8.

He had also announced that he signed a bill declaring that Ukraine will officially celebrate Europe Day on May 9 “together with all of free Europe.”

Victory Day over Nazism in World War II, celebrated on May 9 by former Soviet states and many other countries such as Russia, commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

In February, a draft law was submitted by Ukrainian lawmakers calling for the abolition of "past vestiges" related to the celebration of the Victory Day over Nazism in WWII due to Moscow’s use of it as "the main ideological justification for its aggression."