��ѿ��ý

As his interview was drawing to a close Mr Dimbleby said: “I was really taken aback to see that the Ukrainians were going to be part of the procession. I absolutely understand the politics of it, the British Government demonstrating our commitment to Ukraine, fighting Russia. ��But I wonder whether ministers are aware of what Ukraine's role was in the Second World War, 250,000 in different units, 250,000 fought alongside the Germans, and an unholy number of them participated in the slaughter of something like 1,000,000 Jews in Ukraine, of which the most notorious was the very first to be noted, which was at Babi Yar when 33,000 were murdered in two days. ��Now, it was not in any way to say that we shouldn’t be supporting the Ukrainians as they fight for their sovereignty and independence, but I just find it curious that they should be marching in a VE day celebration when they were fighting against the allies”.��

Although Mr Dimbleby specified “250,000 in different units”, the ECU agreed the passage above gave the unintended impression that Ukrainians as a nation had opposed the Allies, which did not take account of the role played by millions of Ukrainian members of the Red Army.�� In the ECU’s judgement the programme fell short of the ��ѿ��ý’s standards of accuracy in this respect.�� The ECU also accepted that Babi Yar was a Nazi atrocity committed while Ukraine was under German occupation, but noted that Mr Dimbleby had cited it as the first and most notorious slaughter of Jews in Ukraine rather than as a specifically Ukrainian atrocity, and considered that the well-documented participation of Ukrainians in subsequent atrocities warranted his reference to Ukrainian participation “in the slaughter of something like 1,000,000 Jews”.�� This aspect of the complaint was not upheld.

Partly upheld