Are the Ukrainian separatists flying the Confederate flag?

By Chris Zappone
Updated August 1 2014 - 4:23pm, first published 1:40pm
Miroslav Runenko a member of the Donetsk People's Republic parliament stands in front of the flag in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Miroslav Runenko a member of the Donetsk People's Republic parliament stands in front of the flag in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Unofficial flag of the Federal State of Novorossiya Photo: Wikipedia
Unofficial flag of the Federal State of Novorossiya Photo: Wikipedia

Observers have noted the similarities between the flag of Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and the Confederate battle flag flown in the US Civil War. Unofficially, the red and blue pennant seen in Ukraine represents the "Federal State of Novorossiya", or New Russia, the name for the disputed part of Ukraine in Tsarist times. Today the flag is found in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, both separatist strongholds. It was the winner of a Facebook vote in May asking Novorossiya to select one of 11 possible flags.

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