Is it true that Zelensky signed the flag of the SS division “Galicia”?

In October 2023, a video went viral on social networks, the authors of which captured the President of Ukraine allegedly putting his autograph on the banner of World War II collaborators. We checked whether this video description is correct.

In the video you can see how Vladimir Zelensky receives a blue and yellow banner from a man in Ukrainian military uniform and puts his signature in the corner. The description says that this is the flag of the SS Galicia division, recruited by Nazi Germany from Ukrainian volunteers during the Second World War. The video gained popularity in the background scandal, associated with the honoring of a former member of this formation, Yaroslav Gunka, in the Canadian Parliament during Zelensky’s visit there in September 2023. As another example of the glorification of the Nazis in modern Ukraine, the video was distributed by Russian news resources (TV channelConstantinople", ZOV Kyiv, ZOV Transnistria), as well as Telegram channels - among them "Ne.Sugar» (310,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), “Truthfulness"(216,000), "Uncle Slava"(209,000), "Putin on Telegram"(193,000), "Dmitry Vasilets"(179,000), "First People's"(134,000), "Staff Correspondent" (120,000) and "Ostashko! Important"(108,000).

14th SS Volunteer Infantry Division "Galicia"suspected of the mass murder of Poles and Jews during World War II. In 2016, the Polish Sejm qualified as genocide, the actions of the division’s fighters against the population of a number of villages in the historical region of Galicia. In Ukraine itself, the symbols of “Galicia” are used by local laws and courts are not included to the Nazi one. Many Ukrainian historians insist that verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal the recognition of the SS as a criminal organization does not apply to this division. Nevertheless, held in Kyiv in 2021 march in honor of the anniversary of the creation of the unit, it caused sharp criticism in the Verkhovna Rada, as well as in the administration of President Zelensky. Kyiv police even opened a criminal case about the use of Nazi symbols by event participants (which one is not specified).

On October 3, during a working trip to the Kharkov region, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky visited location of units performing combat missions in the Kupyansk-Liman sector. Among them was the 103rd separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There is a photo from this meeting on the official website of the first person of Ukraine.

In turn, the video recording, a fragment of which is being distributed by Russian resources, was posted on Zelensky’s official Facebook account. Publication shared on the official page of the 103rd Brigade. In the video, the unit commander, Colonel Valery Kurko, gives the president the emblem and chevron of the brigade (Zelensky their collects), and also asks to sign the banner.

The banner of the 103rd Brigade, as seen in the footage, is based on image yellow lion on a blue background.

Let's compare this emblem with the symbols of the Galicia division.

What the two images have in common is the coloring and figure of a lion, made in different styles. This is the so-called Russian lion - a golden crowned lion on an azure background, which was depicted on the coat of arms Galicia-Volyn principality (also called the Russian Kingdom). Subsequently, the lion served as a symbol Russian Voivodeship Poland, formed from the main lands of the Galicia-Volyn principality, and after the collapse of the Russian Empire ended up on the coat of arms Western Ukrainian People's Republic with its center in Lviv. From 2021 the image of a lion included in the Great State Emblem of Ukraine. It is the colors of the ancient symbol of the Lviv land, like counts, formed the basis of the national flag of Ukraine.

It is easy to notice that the lion on the banner of the 103rd separate brigade is almost identical to its “relative” with coat of arms of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and, obviously, borrowed from him.

The basis for the slightly different-looking flag of the SS division "Galicia" is also served one of the variations of the historical coat of arms, however, it is groundless to claim that these two military emblems are identical or even that one came from the other.

According to the TGStat service, the first video about Zelensky allegedly signing the banner of “Galicia” with an incorrect description was posted on October 4 at 09:15 Moscow time by the Telegram channel “Kali Yuga Today"(11,000 views), previously noticed in the dissemination of false information.

In June 2023, similar statements spread from behind a panel with chevrons of Ukrainian Armed Forces units, against which Zelensky sometimes writes down his addresses. Telegram channels reported that among the stripes there was a “Galicia” chevron. In fact, it was the emblem of the 1st separate tank brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which depicts not a lion, but a horse in armor.

Cover photo: social networks

Not true

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