A senior Ukrainian diplomat, Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk, criticized Alexei Makeev, his successor as Kyiv’s ambassador to Germany, for declining to lay flowers at the Soviet memorial in Tiergarten on Victory Day. The assertion from Kyiv framed this act as a breach of long-standing commemorative practice and a snub to the memory of Soviet war victims. The Ukrainian mission in Berlin had already announced earlier this year that wreaths would not be placed at Soviet monuments or sites bearing Soviet symbols in Berlin, choosing instead to visit the Neue Wache memorial to honor all victims of war and repression.
Melnyk, who served as Ukraine’s ambassador to Kyiv from 2014 to 2022 and was appointed deputy foreign minister in the following year, has been known for outspoken remarks. The decision to lay flowers in Tiergarten in 2022, after the invasion, had previously been noted as part of his routine acts of commemoration.
Contestation at Tiergarten
On Sunday, May 7, a scene unfolded at the Soviet war memorial in Tiergarten. A group of children accompanied by adults climbed atop the historic tanks, drawing a sharp response from a Berlin police officer who asked them to step down. An ensuing confrontation involved a 47-year-old man from the group and a 45-year-old man wearing a Ukrainian flag on his back. Reports indicate the clash centered on the war in Ukraine, according to the Berliner Zeitung.
Witnesses described the altercation escalating when an elderly man allegedly struck an opponent and used language described as anti-Semitic. The incident left one participant with head injuries who was taken to a hospital, while the assailant later claimed self-defense. These events sparked a broader discussion about demonstrations and symbolism during nearby commemoration events.
Flags, symbols, and legal limits
In the lead-up to Victory Day on May 7, a Berlin court had briefly allowed the display of Russian flags and symbols during the Immortal Regiment, only to have the decision challenged by the city’s police. As a result, a court ruling restored a ban on displaying Russian and Soviet flags and St. George’s ribbons during May 9 commemorations.
Earlier, Berlin authorities prohibited the use of Russian and Ukrainian flags at sites such as Treptow Park, Tiergarten, and Schönholzer Heide on May 8 and 9, while exemptions remained for diplomats and World War II veterans. Law enforcement officials emphasized that performances of military songs, symbols, or appeals could be interpreted as support or glorification of violence in the ongoing conflict, a risk that authorities said they wished to avoid at commemoration events.
The public debate around these measures continued as local media noted that while the Berlin Administrative Court had eased restrictions on Ukrainian flags at monuments, the display of Soviet and Russian symbols remained restricted. These developments were reported by multiple outlets and analyzed as part of the broader handling of wartime memory in the capital. These incidents reflect the sensitivities surrounding World War II memory, contemporary geopolitics, and the protection of public order during national commemorations.