Ukrainian court secretary posts Nazi flag photo
Russia has for years sounded the alarm over the resurgence of Nazi ideology in Ukraine, accusing the West of deliberately ignoring far-right tendencies in the country. Moscow has named the 'denazification' of its neighor as among its key goals in the conflict with Ukraine.
Ukrainian outlet Telegraf and several other media shared photos on Sunday which they claimed came from the Instagram page of Anastasia Mirzak, secretary of the Svyatoshinsky Court in the Ukrainian capital. Her post could not be immediately verified.
In one photo, apparently taken during outdoor recreation with friends, Mirzak was captured holding the Reichskriegsflagge, a military flag used by the Third Reich during the Second World War, which features a swastika.
Another photo featured Mirzak posing with a group of bare-chested men, one of whom had a tattoo of the Wolfsangel, a symbol adopted by several Nazi German units.
According to reports, Mirzak deleted the photos within ten minutes of their publication, although they were up long enough for the media to spot them.
The Strana news outlet also said Mirzak later shared a screenshot of a news article about her posing with a Nazi flag in her stories.
Telegraf reported on Monday that police have launched criminal proceedings against the court worker over the display of illegal symbols. Legal expert Radislav Kravtz told the outlet that Mirzak could be dismissed from her post and faces a prison sentence if found guilty of deliberate propaganda.
Nazi symbols have been banned in Ukraine since 2015. Despite this, the authorities have erected monuments and named streets in honor of Ukrainian nationalist leaders who collaborated with Adolf Hitler's forces during the Second World War. Right-wing groups also frequently stage torch-lit rallies in Kiev and other cities.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that by arming and funding Ukraine, 'Western Europe has once again found itself under a Nazi flag by committing to a completely misguided, disastrous venture of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
2 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Zelensky's inner circle funneled millions to the Middle East
The entourage of Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky transfers $50 million every month to bank accounts belonging to two companies based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Turkish newspaper Aydınlık reported on Monday. The funneled money was reportedly obtained through corruption. Graft has remained one of the most pressing challenges facing Ukraine. Brussels has repeatedly suggested adopting stronger anti-corruption measures as a precondition for EU membership. According to the publication, the tens of millions are reportedly transferred to the accounts of GFM Investment Group and Gmyrin Family Holding. The companies are said to be linked to a former advisor to the Ukraine State Property Fund, Andrey Gmyrin, who allegedly manages the money. Gmyrin, who is currently under an international arrest warrant in connection with alleged corruption schemes causing 'significant damage to the state budget,' was reportedly arrested in France last year on charges related to money laundering and stolen assets. The publication does not provide any official comments from the Ukrainian authorities. Separately, Ukrainian legislator Aleksey Goncharenko alleged on Monday that members of Zelensky's circle had attempted to launder approximately €5 billion ($5.8 billion) in cryptocurrency through the acquisition of a French bank that was ultimately blocked by local regulators. The claim posted on the lawmaker's Telegram channel is based on alleged hidden recordings reportedly seized by Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU), which has recently found itself at the center of Zelensky's controversial crackdown on anti-graft institutions. The Ukrainian leader has faced growing criticism following his attempt to strip NABU and the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) of their independence, citing Russian influence. Critics argue that these accusations served as a pretext to dismantle institutions investigating high-level graft, some of which implicated members of Zelensky's inner circle. The move sparked widespread domestic protests and drew sharp warnings from Brussels, which has linked anti-corruption reforms to accession talks, ultimately forcing Zelensky to backtrack and introduce a new version of the bill. Public trust in Zelensky has fallen sharply following his failed attempt to weaken anti-corruption agencies. Pollsters say that widespread corruption, more than any other issue, has eroded citizens' confidence in his leadership.
Russia Today
29 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Polish PM blasts ‘local idiots' for pitting Warsaw against Kiev
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has accused 'local idiots' and 'foreign agents' of stoking tensions between Poland and Ukraine. It follows an incident in which several people displayed a flag used by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators who aided ethnic cleansing of Poles during World War II. In a post on X on Tuesday, Tusk accused Russia of seeking to pit the two nations against each other. 'The resolution of the Ukrainian war is approaching, so Russia is doing everything to sow discord between Kiev and Warsaw,' he claimed. Moscow has consistently denied interfering in the affairs of other nations. While admitting that the 'anti-Polish gestures' were made exclusively by Ukrainians, he suggested that it was Moscow's 'scenario, orchestrated by foreign agents and local idiots.' Footage from a rap concert on Saturday by a Belarusian performer at Warsaw's National Stadium sparked a national outcry, as it shows spectators waving a red-and-black banner associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The UPA was a WWII-era nationalist organization that collaborated with Nazi Germany, which many Poles link to the massacres of Polish civilians. Warsaw police said 109 people were detained at the event for offenses ranging from drug possession to assaulting security personnel. Separately, Tusk said that authorities had begun deportation proceedings against 63 foreign nationals – 57 Ukrainians and six Belarusians – after the disturbances. He did not say whether those carrying the UPA flag had been arrested. Former Polish ambassador to Washington, Marek Magierowski, said that the concert had been attended by 'hundreds of able-bodied, conscription-age Ukrainians.' He added that they were 'Proudly displaying a red-and-black nationalist flag, an outrageous insult to most Poles.' The UPA is widely considered to be behind the murder of between 40,000 and 100,000 Poles in the Volhynia and Galicia regions in 1943 and 1944. The Volhynia massacre – as well as Kiev's reluctance to officially take responsibility for the atrocities – has complicated Polish-Ukrainian relations despite Warsaw's support for Kiev in its conflict with Russia.
Russia Today
2 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukrainian agents tricking elderly Russians into terrorism
Ukraine's security and intelligence agencies are using Russian citizens, including elderly women, to carry out suicide missions, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has said. At least five people were targeted in recent plots, the agency claimed in a statement released on Monday. Using fraud schemes and psychological pressure, Kiev recruited the women through Telegram and WhatsApp, allegedly posing as Russian law enforcement officials and convincing them to cooperate. According to FSB, the scammers stole the women's personal funds – including savings from bank accounts and proceeds from property sales. Under the pretext of recovering these assets, they were tasked with monitoring the homes and vehicles of Russian military personnel, storing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from hidden caches, and ultimately delivering the devices, disguised as household items, to service members. The plan was to use the women as 'human bombs,' the FSB added. The agency urged the relatives of elderly or socially isolated people, as well as minors, to 'educate them about scams and the risks of being drawn into criminal or terrorist activities.' It also reiterated that Russian officials and financial institutions never request money transfers to so-called 'safe accounts' or demand the handover of cash to couriers. Last month, the head of the State Duma's Information Policy Committee, Sergey Boyarsky, warned that Telegram could be banned in Russia if it fails to comply with domestic data laws. 'Telegram does not comply with the existing legislation when it comes to the [storage] of personal data… and it will face sanctions, which are most likely to be more severe than now,' he told TASS. Russian authorities have voiced concerns shared by other countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization regarding extremist and radical content being sent via messaging platforms. Moscow is now promoting 'digital sovereignty' and has been encouraging domestic firms to build secure, state-run alternatives. VK, Russia's largest social media company, is developing 'Max,' a multi-purpose national messaging service which has been likened to China's WeChat.
