Soviet states. World War Two commemorations honouring more than 20 million Soviet war dead are a major event in Russia, one of the few events able to unite people of all political persuasions. Ukraine lost up to 8 million people in what is known in ex-Soviet states as the Great Patriotic War. But commemorations there invariably cause splits, as thousands, mainly in western Ukraine, joined the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which fought both German and Soviet troops. Others donned Nazi uniforms in a unit known as the SS Galicina. Post-Soviet Ukraine leaders have tried unsuccessfully to persuade Soviet war veterans and UPA fighters to attend war commemorations together.
