Is it a real tradition in the Vinnytsia Region to photograph babies wrapped in the Ukrainian flag?

Our reader, Anastasiia Sultan, asks whether there is a tradition in the Vinnytsia Region, Ukraine, where babies are photographed while wrapped in the Ukrainian flag. It’s true.

This Facebook post caught the reader’s attention, claiming that “many years ago, Banderite families had a tradition of wrapping a newborn in a blue and yellow flag, which they kept for the rest of their lives.”

 The author of the post expresses his delight, stating, “It's nice to see that such a tradition has now appeared in the Vinnytsia Region" (refer to screen/collage). The post garnered 492 shares and over 600 likes! The author mentions taking the photo from the website of the maternity ward of the Kalynivka Central District Hospital.

 We were unable to find it on the website.

Instead, we found this and several other baby photos posted on the Kalynivka City Council’s website in August of the previous year, as well as on the Facebook page of the Department of Health and Rehabilitation of the Vinnytsia Regional State Administration.

 According to Liudmyla Yaremchuk, the deputy medical director for quality of care at the Kalynivka Central District Hospital, “We used to take pictures of babies wearing the blue and yellow flag only on holidays, but with the outbreak of a full-scale war, all mothers want to take pictures of their babies with the Ukrainian flag. It’s already a tradition that we follow.”

In one of the photos, alongside the blue and yellow flag, there are also pixelated colours resembling those on Ukrainian military uniforms (featured in the centre of the image).

We were a little confused by this statement, as not too long ago, Ukrainians themselves poked fun at russians who wrapped their newborn sons in military-style blankets (“konvertik”) when they left the hospital. Some journalists jokingly suggested that soon, in russia, children would be sent to the front lines from the time they are in diapers