Nazi collaborator to lose “Hero of Ukraine” title

A Ukrainian court has reversed a controversial decision made by the country's previous president, Viktor Yushchenko.

Stepan Bandera, a Nazi collaborator and leader of Ukraine's Nationalist Movement during World War II, is to be stripped of the title “Hero of Ukraine.”

The decision to award him with the honorary title split the country in two in January, with most major political parties expressing strong opposition.

The Council of Europe also lashed out at the move, deeming it a glorification of Nazism. The appeal against the award was instigated by a lawyer from the city of Donetsk, Vladimir Olentsevich. The judges ruled Bandera ineligible to carry the title, as he died before the independent Ukrainian state was established in 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The ruling can be appealed within ten days.