Authorities in Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) and Luhansk Peoples Republic (LPR) have announced the decision to rename their respective capital cities as Stalino and Voroshilovograd. The renaming will be held on May 9, the anniversary of Victory Day, which marks the victory of the allied forces over Nazi Germany during World War II. The move has been declared in honor of Joseph Stalin, the Soviet leader during the war, and Soviet military commander Kliment Voroshilov.
According to a Morning Star report, the authorities in the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia also announced that the capital city of Tskhinvali will use its former name of Stalinir for all public events dedicated to the Victory Day on May 9 and the Great Patriotic War Day on June 22.
Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) and Luhansk Peoples Republic (LPR) were two oblasts (administrative regions) in the Donbas region of Ukraine. They declared independence from Ukraine protesting the right-wing Euromaidan coup in Kyiv in 2014.
This year is also the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, which commemorates the defeat of the Nazis following the signing of the German Instrument of Surrender late on the evening of 8 May, 1945.
Meanwhile, May 2 this year marked the sixth anniversary of the Odessa massacre. In 2014, 46 trade unionists were killed by right-wing EuroMaidan protestors at Odessa. Most of them were burnt alive when the Odessa Trade Union House was set alight by armed Euromaidan protesters, who barricaded the victims inside.
