Former Russian president proposes renaming Ukraine

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has proposed renaming Ukraine after notorious Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera. This comes after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told his government to consider a proposal to change Russia's name to 'Moscovia'. Medvedev, who served as Russian president between 2008 and 2012, and currently serves as deputy chairman of the Security Council, fired back in a post on his Telegram channel, referring to the idolization of Bandera, a World War II-era leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN). Bandera collaborated with Adolf Hitler's government during the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union and was later arrested and imprisoned by the Germans over disagreements about the future of Ukraine. He was assassinated by a KGB agent in 1959.

Bandera and his followers are honored as heroes in modern Ukraine, with streets and buildings named after them. Nationalists hold annual torchlit processions on Bandera's birthday in Kiev and other cities.