Five years ago, on April 7, 2015, the government of Ukraine adopted the crimson poppy flower as a symbol of the victory over Nazi Germany as part of a shift away from Soviet imagery that Kyiv said the Kremlin uses to influence neighbors and promote self-serving myths about World War II amid the conflict in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
First Lady Maryna Poroshenko attended a “Remembrance Poppy” ceremony on April 7 as part of events marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi surrender in May 1945. “The time has come when we have to look for the ideas that unite our country and nation,” she said. “The second world war affected each and every Ukrainian family. The poppy is a symbol of remembrance that pays tribute to all heroes who sacrificed their lives for a better future.”