Russia’s president this Wednesday stressed the importance of recognizing the genocide of the Soviet population during the Nazi invasion, as he celebrated the 80th anniversary of the end of the siege of Leningrad, which left more than a million dead.
“Recognition of the genocide of the civilian population of the Soviet Union is extremely important,” Vladimir Putin told St. of TASS news.
Putin recalled that the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, which tried Nazi war criminals, dealt with this issue “in general” but that afterwards “it was not even possible to present or investigate evidence of this genocide”.
“A document condemning the ‘heroisation’ of Nazism was recently put to the vote at the UN and 50 countries voted against it. Who can resist the recognition of the ‘heroisation’ of Nazism as criminal?” Russian president.
“This is not just amnesia,” the Kremlin leader added, arguing that it is about “transmitting political pressure on Russia.”
“For what? To maintain a common pressure front against our country from the current political situation. In that sense, unfortunately, little changes. And this means that we must consistently defend the historical truth,” the Russian president underlined.
Putin recalled that during the siege of Leningrad from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, “many European countries participated and committed military crimes”.
“We never talked about it before because of a certain tolerance and in order not to spoil the climate of relations with many countries,” he added, pointing out that the same scenario occurred on other fronts, such as with the “Blue Division” . (Spanish) in Stalingrad, which marked a turning point in World War II, in which German troops suffered a serious setback in the military campaign.
“Anyway, here, on the Leningrad front, there were participants from many countries during the blockade,” he added.
Early in the morning, the Russian president began the commemorative acts for breaking the blockade of Leningrad by laying a wreath at the war memorial on the so-called “Neva Square”, on the banks of the river of the same name, where his father fought.
Putin placed a bouquet of red flowers with a black mourning ribbon, remained silent and bowed before the monument, then went to St. Petersburg to participate in other commemorative events that referenced the date.
As Putin himself reported on several occasions, his father, also Vladimir, fought on “Neva Square”, where he was seriously injured and rescued by a companion.
The mother remained in Leningrad during the siege of the city, from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, in which more than a million people died, including Putin’s older brother, Viktor, a victim of diphtheria ten years before the assassination of the Russian president. born.
About 20,000 people fell defending the city and another 10,000 died under the bombs, but it was hunger and winter, with temperatures of 40 degrees below zero, that did more damage to the inhabitants.
Although the complete lifting of the blockade took place on January 27, 1944, Soviet troops joined by land 11 days earlier, commemorating the end of the siege on January 18.
Putin also laid a wreath at the Motherland Monument and the mass graves at the Piskaryov Memorial Cemetery, and visited the Leningrad Museum of Defense and Blockade.
Source: DN
