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Kyiv demands UK remove Tryzub from hate guide
Summary
A dispute over the national coat of arms in a British counter-terrorism guide unfolded as Ukraine dealt with fallout from a government resignation offer and the downing of Flight 752.
What happened when Kyiv found its national coat of arms listed among hate symbols? On 21 January 2020, Ukraine demanded that the United Kingdom's National Counter Terrorism Policing Network remove the Tryzub from a guide on symbols associated with white supremacy and Neo-Nazism.
Counter Terrorism Policing responded that the coat of arms had been included because of its use by National Action, a proscribed far-right terror group. The exchange put a question of national symbolism onto the agenda of Ukraine–United Kingdom relations.
A busy week for Kyiv
The demand came days after a domestic political episode. On 17 January 2020, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk submitted his resignation after an audio clip, in which he allegedly criticised President Volodymyr Zelensky's economic policies, was leaked earlier that week. Zelensky subsequently announced that Honcharuk was allowed to keep his position.
The shadow of Flight 752
Ukraine was also dealing with the aftermath of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752. The aircraft was shot down by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on 8 January 2020. On 17 January, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave his first Friday sermon in eight years. He defended the Revolutionary Guards over the accidental killing of passengers on board and praised Operation Martyr Soleimani for delivering what he called a "slap on the face" to the United States. The sermon came as public anger mounted against the Iranian government over its handling of the disaster.
The protests that followed in Iran were described as part of wider clashes in January 2020 stemming from the crackdown on the 2019 Iranian protests.
