Ukraine, in snub to Moscow, to adopt British war-time symbol, ditch Soviet war name

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko places a poppy in the World War I Honour Roll during their visit to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, December 12, 2014. REUTERS/Jason Reed

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine, in a break with tradition that is certain to rile Moscow, is ditching the Soviet name for World War Two and aims to adopt the poppy, a mainly British wartime symbol, to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany.

The moves, signalled by Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk on Wednesday, marked an attempt by Kiev to distance itself from Moscow's Soviet-style celebrations, planned for May 9, as the conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine drags on.