these Ukrainians proud of the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky for the commemorations of the Landing

Like Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz, the Ukrainian president was invited, with around twenty heads of state and government, by Emmanuel Macron for the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy. Vladimir Putin was not invited: a relief for these inhabitants of Lviv.

A common story, despite the thousands of kilometers of distance. On rails, a cattle car used for deportations. And the large wrought iron gate is reminiscent of that of Auschwitz… “Lviv was one of the first cities in the entire Soviet Union, in June 1941, to be occupied by the Nazis.explains, moved, Konstantin as he leaves the museum of totalitarian regimes in this town in western Ukraine.

The commemorations in Normandy will not only be followed in France or the United States, proud of its veterans: some Ukrainians have also noted the absence of Vladimir Putin and the presence of their president Volodymir Zelensky. Thursday June 6, 2024, 80 years later, some of the Allies meet – without Russia – to celebrate the victory over Nazism while war is raging again in Europe, on the beach of Omaha.bloody“.

The presence of the Ukrainian president, in the midst of war with Russia, is necessarily scrutinized. During the last major ceremonies, such as in 2014, the two presidents Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko met in an icy atmosphere, while the Russian army had invaded Crimea a hundred days earlier. Meager exchanges then led to the Minsk agreements. But this year, the master of the Kremlin, prosecuted for war crimes by the ICC, was ultimately not invited, to the great relief of these Ukrainians, like Konstantin.

But, when suddenly the air alert sounds in the sky of Lviv, he cannot help but make the link between the two wars: “Everyone finally understands who the attacker is. But many countries have long refused to see that Putin’s Russia is waging a war of extermination against Ukraine. Today, in Normandy, we are the ones joining the club of the Western world“, underlines Konstantin.

Robert and Anastasia, 20 and 17, also took a detour to see the exhibition. If Lviv particularly suffered during the Second World War, the subject of “D-Day” in Normandy is a bit far away, like a schoolboy memory. “Yes I know that there was the Landing, with very hard fighting“, recalls Robert, who says he is proud to know the Ukrainian president invited to these ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.

“I hope that Western Presidents will discuss sanctions against Russia and the weapons we lack…“, he breathes. New aid in particular from France, much awaited by the Ukrainians, which must be one of the subjects discussed on June 6 in the evening by Emmanuel Macron, confirmed the Elysée.