Russia announced the beginning of the propaganda offensive. By May 9, it is going to distribute 100,000 St. George ribbons outside its borders. But even the allies are cautious about this plan.

This is written today by Gazeta Wyborcza, adding that in Russia and some post-Soviet countries the tape is considered a symbol of the end of World War II. Therefore, it is massively distributed in the streets on the occasion of the celebration of Victory Day on May 9. The current action of this distribution began on Saturday. This was announced by the Kremlin's main propagandist Dmitry Kiselev.

"The initiative was born in the agency" Russia Today "in 2005. St. George's ribbon became not only a symbol of the glory of our soldiers during the Great Patriotic War, but also a certain value, a certain point of support in modern times, "said Kiselev.

The publication writes that the Russian action will be held in 90 countries inclusive with Poland. The tapes will be distributed by Russian diplomats, as well as members of pro-Russian organizations and sympathies of Moscow.

Over the years, such "St. George ribbons" were distributed in countries that were part of the USSR. The organizers of this action proudly declare that the tapes will appear on the streets of all post-Soviet republics. Most of them will be in Moldova, Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. But after the war in Ukraine, in which the ribbon became a symbol of aggression, it became an ambiguous phenomenon for other countries.

"This is a propaganda demonstration of Russian power, the tape has become a symbol of militant Russian nationalism," believes one of the leaders of the Belarusian opposition Alexei Yanukevich.

"The authorities of many countries are not very approving of the distribution of such tapes. There is no official ban, but there is an unpleasant climate, "Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Malginov complained at a press conference.

He added that the worsening of relations with the bands is allegedly a desire to belittle the role of the USSR army in the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

"The tape is seen as a symbol of Russian nationalism, and the government of Ukraine and the Baltic states frankly fights against it. Allies of Russia, even Belarus, are cautious about the Russian action, "said Pavel Usov, a Belarusian political analyst and head of the Center for Analysis and Forecast..

In his opinion, the leaders of post-Soviet countries believe that wearing St. George's tapes after Putin is a way of demonstrating pro-Russian views.

"The leaders of the former Soviet republics do not support the action of wearing tapes, but do not want to spoil relations with Moscow. Therefore, they do not impose a ban and are not openly opposed to this, "Usov is convinced.

Meanwhile, Belarus and Kazakhstan have not officially joined the Russian initiative. They prefer to distribute their own national colors.

Last year the authorities of the Belarusian Brest announced the inadmissibility of the "St. George's ribbon" in public transport.

As reported, in March 2016 the parliamentary committee on the legislative support of the work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported the draft law on imposing a fine for the use of the so-called "St. George's ribbon".