Lithuania plans to make May 9 Remembrance Day for victims of "genocide" in Ukraine

A group of Lithuanian MPs has proposed to mark May 9 not only as Europe Day but also as the Day of Remembrance for victims of the "genocide" in Ukraine.

The corresponding amendment to the law on memorable dates was registered by 16 MPs who belong to both the ruling parties and the opposition, Delfi reports.

Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, foreign minister, minister of justice, main initiator and organizer - Deputy Speaker of the Seimas Paulius Saudargas are among the authors of the project.

“May 9 is celebrated in the Russian Federation as Victory Day in World War II, but at the same time, war crimes and repressions of the Soviet Union against entire peoples during the bloody Stalin era are not mentioned,” the explanatory note to the project says. “Lithuania, Ukraine, and partially Europe did not have a chance to rejoice at the victory over Nazi Germany, as one occupying power was replaced by another, which also committed crimes against humanity.”

Genocide is being committed in Ukraine by Russia, which is the hereditary of the Soviet Union, the report says.

"Thus, this day would unite the tragedies experienced by Ukrainians then and now, that is, the Holodomor [Great Famine] organized by the Soviet Union, mass murder, deportations and extermination of civilians in the Gulag system [major instrument of political repression in the Soviet Union] and war crimes being committed by the Russian servicemen today," the authors of the document stressed.

Earlier, the Latvian Parliament declared May 9 as the Day of Remembrance for victims of war in Ukraine. Mass events are prohibited in the country on this day.

Russians traditionally celebrate May 9 as Victory Day over Nazi Germany. At the same time, the end of World War II is marked in Europe on May 8.

The Ukrainian parliament recognized Russia's war against Ukraine as genocide against its nation.