Now, after actor Zelensky was elected as the new president of Ukraine and successfully took office, the populist and "anti-Russia" sentiment in Ukraine seem to usher in a new climax. The climax of this round was not only caused by the Crimean territorial problem, but also by some radical right-wing elements.
Against this complex background, on the evening of June 2 local time, a shocking thing broke out in Kharkov, Ukraine's second largest city. Some Ukrainian far-right protesters pulled down and destroyed the bust of the former Soviet military hero Marshal Zhukov.
1. The statue of Zhukov was destroyed
Marshal Zhukov was destroying the monument in Kharkov city, a series of far-right and populist groups held protests against a meeting of a new political party organization. The party is led by mayors of Kharkov and mayors of Odessa, both of whom are considered members of the party where former pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych is located.
Protesters say that Marshal Zhukov's bust violates Ukrainian laws and is a symbol of Russia and the Soviet Union. Its existence in Ukraine is inappropriate. According to local TV stations, hundreds of far-right elements cheered at the time, protesters tied Marshal Zhukov's bust with a rope, and then pulled it hard, and the bust fell from the high base.
These populists and far-right people inserted a Ukrainian flag in the original bust. However, after the incident, Kharkov Mayor Hennadiy Kernes said that Marshal Zhukov's bust would be repaired.
In 2015, the Ukrainian Parliament did pass a law as part of its anti-Russian policy. The law prohibits the use of Soviet-era signs and stipulates that monuments commemorating Soviet politicians can be demolished and renamed streets and residential areas after their names.
But Marshal Zhukov actually has special significance to Ukraine. Many young Ukrainians don’t know why the statue of Marshal Zhukov of the former Soviet Union was erected in Ukraine? The reason is that during World War II, Ukraine was once occupied by Nazi Germany, and Marshal Zhukov led his army to liberate Ukraine.
2. He was the "savior" of liberating Ukraine
On January 18, 1943, Zhukov was awarded the rank of Soviet Marshal. He was the first Soviet commander to win this honor in Soviet War . Because of his outstanding achievements in the Soviet-German War, he was recognized as one of the best generals in World War II. Therefore, he became one of the only two people to win the honorary title of Soviet Hero for four times.
On the Soviet-German battlefield in 1943, it was developing towards a trend that was beneficial to the Soviet Union, but there was still a certain gap between completely destroying the German army's living forces and driving them out of the Soviet Union. This was Zhukov's main task at this time. In August of the same year, Antonov, who was acting as Chief of General Staff, came to the front line and conveyed the opinions of Stalin and the General Staff of the Soviet Army to Zhukov.
The General Staff believes that from various intelligences, the United Kingdom and the United States are not yet prepared to carry out a large-scale offensive campaign in Europe. Germany is no longer able to carry out any large-scale attacks on the Eastern Front battlefield, but there is still enough manpower and material resources to carry out active defensive operations. On this basis, the principle of the combat plan formulated by the General Staff of the Soviet Army is: to launch an attack within all the frontiers in the west and southwest directions to advance to the eastern region of Belarus and the Dnieper River, seize the landing ground on the Dnieper River, and ensure the implementation of the battle of Ukraine on the right bank.
On September 6, Su Supreme Command sent an order, and Zhukov was responsible for coordinating the actions of the two fronts. The task was to continue the attack, advance to the middle reaches of the Dnieper River and seize the landing ground there. Under Zhukov's coordination and command, the Voronezh Front and the Grassland Front quickly began the offensive operation.
At first, the German army's resistance was very tenacious, and the Soviet army made slow progress.But after mid-September, the situation changed, the German army consumed a lot of troops, while the Soviet army added a new reserve force. Before the Soviet army launched the battle to cross the Dnieper River, German commander Hitler personally came to the southern army group headquarters and made a firm request to the army: to fight for the Dnieper River to the last person, and to protect the Dnieper River at all costs.
After a series of dispatching troops and adjusting the original combat plan according to changes in the battlefield situation, on November 1, Zhukov adopted the tactic of striking east and attacking west, and ordered the artillery to bomb the landing ground at Burklin. Sure enough, Manstein, who was attacked, immediately transferred the reserve team to the threatened area, which happened to be trapped by Zhukov.
On November 3, the Soviet army landed on the ground from Liu Jieri, which the Germans believed was very "peaceful", to carry out an attack. 200 artillery pieces, mortars and 500 "Katyushas" attacked the enemy together, and soon pried open the enemy's defense gate. In order to avoid the threat of being surrounded by the Soviet army, the German army was forced to evacuate Kiev and turn around and head south. After a fierce battle, the Soviet army finally captured Kyiv.
Then, Ukraine's large and small cities were recovered by the Soviet army one by one. For several months, Zhukov had been running around, and had been in a state of high tension in overload operation for a long time. His eyes were bloodshot due to lack of sleep, and his cheeks were obviously haggard due to fatigue. Although he was extremely tired, he immediately became energetic when he talked about fighting.
Overall, Hitler built an "eastern barrier" in an attempt to stop the Soviet army's offensive pace. Zhukov commanded the Soviet army to force the crossing of the Dnieper River and liberate the Ukrainian capital Kiev. He boldly proposed to implement the encirclement battle, completely eliminate the German army, and succeed in practice. The Soviet army achieved a great victory in liberating Ukraine, which has to be said to be Zhukov's long-term military vision.
It can be seen that Zhukov made great contributions to the liberation of Ukraine.
3. Why are the "anti-Russian" organizations worried?
However, Ukrainian populism is rising rapidly today, and anti-Russia sentiment has also risen. In the campaign, even Zelensky advocated maintaining integration with the West. Since the Ukrainian crisis, most people have been inclined to the West and will join the EU and NATO in the constitution last year.
Previous elections were fought against by pro-Russia and pro-European candidates, but in recent years, the change in people's sentiment has broken the traditional confrontation between the world and the world. In this year's Ukrainian general election, Russia's support has become the biggest "negative factor". Pro-Russian candidate Yuri Boyko only ranked fourth in the vote in the first round of votes.
However, because the Poroshenko government's anti-Russian stance in the past few years was too tough, its pro-Western stance was too obvious, and Poroshenko's governance had no achievements, Zelensky's current tendency is to talk to Moscow through diplomatic channels. A poll by the Kiev Institute of International Sociology two months ago found that nearly 60% of respondents' attitudes towards Russia have changed.
Because the people's anti-Russian sentiment softened, and Zelensky's advocate of dealing with relations with Russia with moderate means, it obviously made those right-wing organizations and radicals very anxious. Ukraine's Russian-speaking population is concentrated in the eastern and southern regions, and they are not many. Therefore, these right-wing organizations and radicals tried to erase Russia's imprint in Ukraine by destroying statues of heroes in the Soviet era.
