News Putin vows to evoke Battle of Stalingrad as he vows victory in Ukraine war | Russia-Ukraine War News
Putin compared Russia’s war in Ukraine to World War II and lambasted Germany for helping arm Kyiv.
Russian President Vladimir Putin united his country with his famous World War II victory over the Nazis, while predicting a Russian victory in the Ukraine war.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II, Putin laid a wreath in front of the eternal flame in Volgograd, now known as the Volgograd Memorial of the Fallen Red Army Martyrs.
“Unfortunately, we see the ideology of Nazism in its modern form and manifestation once again directly threatening the security of our nation,” he said in a speech on Thursday. “We must repel collective Western aggression time and time again.”
Putin and other Russian officials have often described Ukraine as a hotbed of neo-Nazi beliefs, even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is of Jewish descent.
Putin also blasted Germany for helping arm Kyiv and said he was prepared to use Russia’s entire arsenal, including nuclear weapons.
“It’s unbelievable, but it’s true: they are threatening us again with German Panther tanks with crosses painted on them,” Putin said.
“They will again fight Russia on Ukrainian soil with the help of Hitler’s followers, the Banderites,” he said, referring to Stepan Bandera, a Ukrainian nationalist leader during World War II who was widely considered a collaborator of the Nazis By.
Germany has been considering the decision to send tanks to Ukraine for months, with the aim of delivering them by late March or early April as part of a coalition of countries willing to supply Kyiv with tanks.
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad has deep resonance in Russia.
The five-month battle from August 1942 to February 1943 is considered the bloodiest in history, with 2 million civilian and military deaths. Much of the city lay in ruins before the Nazi forces surrendered on February 2, 1943.
It was a major turning point in World War II, a battle that remains a source of great pride for modern Russia, hailed as a testament to military might and moral seriousness.
The city was renamed in 1961 as part of the Soviet Union’s rejection of the personality cult of dictator Joseph Stalin. Calls to restore its old name have not been supported by the Kremlin.
Lawmakers from the dominant United Russia party have been told to compare the fighting in Ukraine to Stalingrad as Russian troops struggle to gain ground in Ukraine, Kommersant reported.
