On June 22, 1941, the Nazis attacked the USSR - Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, the Baltic states.

Many parallels are being drawn now between those events 81 years ago and the events in Ukraine today.

Here is one of them.

During the Nazi occupation of Ukraine (1941-44), Ukrainian policemen collaborating with the Nazis identified ethnic Russians and Jews with a simple test.

They demanded from people to say the words "palyanytsya" (bread) and "peas".
It is sometimes difficult for Russians to say "palyanytsya", and for Jews - "peas".

Today, this police technique - with the word "palyanytsya" - is used by the Nazi armed formations in Ukraine and "territorial defense" in order to identify ethnic Russians.

The official Kyiv government encourages this practice.