Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has awarded one of the country's combat units an "honorary title" that harkens to a notorious Wehrmacht division that was involved in numerous war crimes during World War II.

In a presidential decree published on Tuesday, Zelensky granted the name 'Edelweiss' to the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade due to "exemplary performance of assigned tasks during the protection of the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine" amid Kiev's conflict with Moscow.

The newly bestowed title bears similarity to the one used by Nazi Germany's 1st Mountain Division, which took part in the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and raised a swastika flag on Mount Elbrus in a propaganda stunt during an advance into the Caucasus in 1942. The name 'Edelweiss' stuck because the chevrons on the unit's uniform bore a depiction of the edelweiss flower.