The vice-speaker of the State Duma, the deputy secretary of the General Council of the party 'United Russia', Sergei Zheleznyak, believes that rejection of the Day of Defender of the Fatherland proves the desire of Kiev to trample on Russian-Ukrainian history.
"Kiev has established a new commemorative date that has been chosen for the sake of the followers of Bandera, reversing the Defender of the Fatherland Day's celebration. This policy has once again proved the desire of Kiev to trample on our common history, to mock veterans and the memory of the tens of millions of lives given for the great victory in the terrible battles of the Great Patriotic War," RIA Novosti cited him.
On Friday, the head of the self-proclaimed LPR, Igor Carpenter, signed a decree on celebration of the day of defender of the Fatherland day on February 23.
Earlier, this day became a holiday for the residents of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has cancelled the celebration of the Defender of Motherland Day on February 23 and established a new national holiday - the Day of the Defender of Ukraine, which will be celebrated on October 14. In addition, he said that he asked his wife not to congratulate him on 23 February.
