Putin compares Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to war against Nazi Germany

Moscow:

President Vladimir Putin took advantage of World War II commemorations on Thursday to rally support for his military’s intervention in Ukraine, comparing the fighting to Nazi Germany’s invasion and hinting that Moscow could use nuclear weapons.

Putin has used World War II to promote his political agenda in recent years, while the Kremlin has sought to accord cult status to Moscow’s victory in what Russians call the Great Patriotic War.

Arriving in the southern city of Volgograd to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, achieved at great cost, Putin sought to drum up support for his offensive on Ukraine.

He compared Russia’s so-called “special military operations” in Ukraine to the war against Nazi Germany in 1941–1945 and claimed that the Russians were prepared to go “to the end”.

“Time and again we are forced to repel the aggression of the collective West,” Putin said on the Volga River in the city formerly known as Stalingrad.

He said, “We are not sending tanks to their borders, but we have something to answer for, and it will not be just about using armored vehicles. Everyone should understand that.”

“A modern war with Russia would be completely different,” he said.

Since sending troops into pro-Western Ukraine last February, Putin has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons against the West if the conflict escalates.

“It’s unbelievable but true. We are again threatened by German Leopard tanks.”

– ‘To go to the end’ –

“The readiness to go to the end, to do the impossible for the sake of the Motherland, for the truth – was and is in the blood of our multinational people,” Putin said.

He spoke after laying flowers at the city’s famous landmark – a hilltop monument to the battle that includes an 85-metre (279-foot) tall statue of a woman with a sword known as “The Motherland Calls”.

The commemoration in the southern Russian city comes at a time when the Kremlin looks to ramp up its offensive into Ukraine, fueled by the tens of thousands of reservists mobilized last autumn.

The 1942–43 Battle of Stalingrad lasted almost six months and when it was over the city was in ruins and over a million soldiers and civilians had lost their lives.

The victory of the Red Army marked a turning point not only for the Soviet Union, which had suffered several heavy defeats, but also for the Allied forces.

Russia claims recent gains near the hotspot town of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Moscow recently announced the capture of the eastern city of Soledar as it seeks control of the entire region of Donetsk – an area it claims it has annexed.

Although the significance of the capture of the salt-mining town is disputed, Soledar was the first major victory for the Russian army after a series of setbacks on the ground.

– Statue of Stalin –

On the eve of Putin’s arrival, a bust of dictator Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Volgograd.

Since Putin took power in Russia in 2000, a growing chorus of Russians is taking a positive view of the autocratic role in history, and analysts point to Stalin’s creeping rehabilitation in the country.

Nostalgic for the USSR’s superpower status, many Russian officials are promoting Stalin as a tough leader who led the Soviet Union to victory in World War II and presided over the country’s industrialization.

The Soviet Union lost an estimated 20 million people in World War II and the legacy of what is known as the Great Patriotic War is revered in the country.

Authorities declared Wednesday and Thursday public holidays in Volgograd following a request from war veterans.

The city was renamed Volgograd in 1961, eight years after Stalin’s death.

Since 2013, the city has been temporarily renamed Stalingrad several times a year, including on 2 February and 9 May, when Russia holds nationwide celebrations marking the anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II.

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