The news about the Ukrainian Defense Ministry introducing a new, domestically made military uniform has elicited a sarcastic remark from Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, according to news agency RIA Novosti.
Самое время для массового переодевания http://t.co/eumLbmW8QU
— Dmitry Rogozin (@Rogozin) 27 июля 2015
"This is the best time for a mass outfit change", Rogozin tweeted on Tuesday.
The caption accompanied a photo in his tweet, and referred to a report from Russia's RBK news network on Monday's Ukrainian Defense Ministry presentation of a new military uniform, which RBK said specifically features a four-pointed star instead of the five-pointed star used by the Soviet army.
The four-pointed star was used by the Ukrainian Galician Army, the military of the short-lived West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918-1919.
У Міноборони представили нову форму ЗСУ pic.twitter.com/4V2eI8mj9y
— APU (@APUkraine) 27 июля 2015
Monday's presentation, mentioned by a Presidential Administration tweet, was attended by an array of top Ukrainian officials, including President Petro Poroshenko, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexander Turchinov, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak and the Military's Chief of Staff Viktor Muzhenko.
Нова форма Збройних Сил України #ЗСУ #РеформаАрмії pic.twitter.com/OBvCxJ3aId
— Петро Порошенко (@poroshenko) 27 июля 2015
Poroshenko, for his part, stressed the necessity of introducing new military ranks in the Ukrainian army, which he said will be fully in line with Ukrainian traditions and will allegedly help to move away from Soviet army standards. He also referred to "the new uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" in his Twitter account.
In April 2014, the Ukrainian army launched its so-called anti-terror operation against supporters of independence in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.
Kiev has repeatedly blamed Russia for supplying arms and troops to the independence supporters, allegations that Moscow flatly denies.
