If the Ukrainian government gets its way, the country’s military will soon ditch the official Soviet-era call-and-response greeting that has persisted since Kyiv’s break with Moscow nearly 27 years ago for “Glory to Ukraine!” — a chant rooted in Ukraine’s nationalist past but repurposed and popularized during the 2013-14 Euromaidan street protests.
The proposal came from Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who on February 5 submitted a draft bill to parliament that would amend the existing law requiring Ukrainian servicemen and senior officers to greet each other with the Soviet-era “Hello, comrade!” and “Good day, sir!” and swap it with the exchange “Glory to Ukraine!” and “Glory to the heroes!”
