Russian President Vladimir Putin drew many comparisons between World War II and the conflict in Ukraine in his May 8 greetings.
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
REUTERS
“Today our soldiers, like their ancestors, are fighting shoulder to shoulder for the liberation of their native land from Nazi filth, with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours,” Vladimir Putin said in his wishes sent on Sunday to the countries of the former Soviet bloc as well as to the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine. “Today, the common duty is to prevent the revival of Nazism, which caused so much suffering to people in different countries,” he added. Multiplying the comparisons between the Second World War and the conflict in Ukraine, he wished “that the new generations be worthy of the memory of their fathers and grandfathers”.
In his greetings, the Russian president also made numerous references, not only to the soldiers, but also to the civilians of the “home front”, “who crushed Nazism at the cost of countless sacrifices”. “Unfortunately, today, Nazism is raising its head again,” said the Russian president, in a passage intended for Ukrainians. “Our sacred duty is to prevent the ideological heirs of those who have been defeated” in what Moscow calls the “Great Patriotic War” from “taking their revenge”.
The president wished “all the people of Ukraine a peaceful and just future”. On Monday, Moscow will commemorate the victory against Nazi Germany with a military parade. Russia justifies the offensive launched in Ukraine on February 24 by the desire to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
(AFP)