{"id":12796,"date":"2026-06-16T11:40:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T10:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/?p=12796"},"modified":"2026-06-26T11:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:41:15","slug":"ukrainian-students-were-not-celebrating-a-swastika","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecheck.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/ukrainian-students-were-not-celebrating-a-swastika\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian Students Were Not Celebrating a Swastika"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Original article<\/a> (in Montenegrin) was published on 16\/06\/2026; Author: Marko Vukajlovi\u0107<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although other global conflicts have recently attracted more public and media attention, Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine continues to generate misinformation. One persistent narrative portrays Ukrainians as Nazis. In this case, claims circulated suggesting that even Ukrainian students were promoting Nazi symbols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photographs circulated on social media showing what appeared to be an outdoor event, where young people were allegedly forming a swastika as part of a choreographed performance. One of the posts<\/a> was accompanied by the following text: (archived here<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNothing unusual, just a college in Vinnytsia practicing formations. These were not included in the official report, but people photographed the other formations. Of course, the colony must continue financing a country where Nazi ideology has been rehabilitated, because that is what its super-Nazi and Zionist masters demand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, the students of the college in Vinnytsia were not celebrating Nazi symbols. They were marking Vyshyvanka Day, dedicated to the traditional embroidered shirt that Ukrainians regard<\/a> as \u201ca symbol of memory, unity, cultural heritage and support for the country during wartime.\u201d The college explained<\/a> on its website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA bright, emotional and spectacular event dedicated to Vyshyvanka Day was held at our college. Nearly 200 participants transformed the area in front of the main entrance into a living ornament \u2013 a sign of the unity of generations, strength and the indomitable spirit of a people whose women have encoded these values into embroidered patterns since ancient times. The \u2018Crooked Dance\u2019, the sun, the cross, the star, the trident and the dynamic svarga \u2013 constantly in motion, students took turns recreating traditional symbols of fire found in Ukrainian embroidery\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According<\/a> to Myth Detector, the social media claims represent a manipulation of the event. The outlet explains the meaning of the svarga symbol, which is sometimes confused with the swastika:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSvarga, a symbol known in the West as the swastika, is a rotating cross used in some cultures as a symbol associated with sun worship. In ancient Ukrainian culture, it was linked to the hearth, home and family well-being. Depending on the direction in which the rotating cross is oriented, svarga can represent either the movement of the sun (clockwise) or \u2018spiritual fire\u2019 (counter-clockwise). Various artefacts depicting this symbol date back some 4,000 years in the territory of present-day Ukraine. As for its appearance in traditional embroidery, the practice dates back to the Sarmatians, who lived in what is now Ukraine during the first century BCE. Some sources trace the origins of such decorative motifs as far back as the fifth century BCE.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth Detector further notes that the symbol known as svarga, or Yarga\/Kolovrat in Russian culture and history, was also used<\/a> by the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media outlets reported on the event itself, but not on the alleged svarga or \u201cswastika\u201d highlighted by Russian propaganda. Reports indicate that the photographs may have been taken during preparations for the event and that Ukrainian media, as well as the college itself, may have intentionally omitted those images from official coverage in order to avoid associations with Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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