MFA of Ukraine: Putin's May 9 parade to not glorify past victory over Nazi Germany, but modern fascist Russia
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has published a statement on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism in World War II of 1939-1945, in which it honored the memory of millions of dead and condemned Russia's attempts to appropriate the joint victory of the Allies.
“That bloody war claimed millions of lives, shattered countless destinies, and destroyed millions of families. Its devastating consequences were expected to serve as a lasting lesson for future generations and as a firm guarantee of what we recall every year on this day: ‘Never Again!’” the statement notes.
The ministry notes that all the peoples of the former USSR, as well as the Allied nations of the anti-Hitler coalition, made invaluable contributions to defeating Nazism for the sake of a happy and peaceful future for the generations to come. Today, however, we are witnessing that the Russian Federation, having launched the largest war of conquest in Europe since the Second World War, tries to appropriate the victory over Nazism, the ministry stressed.
“The Kremlin claims that Russia would have won the war alone, without the Allies or peoples from other nations, and seeks to monopolize the shared victory over Hitler. As if Russia alone played the decisive role and suffered the greatest losses. In reality, the greatest human and material losses were borne not by Russia, but by the countries and peoples caught between it and Nazi Germany — first and foremost, the Ukrainian people,” the statement notes.
The ministry also recalls that the liberation of Europe from Nazism had not brought freedom to many European nations. After the war, Stalin’s regime occupied Central and Eastern Europe. The Soviet regime committed numerous crimes: the suppression of national identities, political repression, mass deportations to Siberia on fabricated charges, and the violation of human rights, freedom of conscience, and other fundamental liberties. All these crimes must be duly condemned. Unlike Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and many other nations working to achieve peace, modern-day Russia has not only failed to learn from the past — it has embraced the slogan “We can do it again” and adopted militarism and neo-imperialism as its ideology.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns the use of the victory over Nazism for propaganda purposes and notes that in this way the Kremlin is trying to divert attention from its crimes both in the past and in the current aggressive war against Ukraine.
“Tomorrow, on May 9, Russia will once again hold its annual parade — an event which for years has served not so much to honor the memory of those who perished in the war, but to advance its propaganda objectives. Even its announcement of a three-day ceasefire only proves that Moscow values parades and militant propaganda more than human life or the restoration of peace,” the statement notes.
The Foreign Ministry notes that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued by the International Criminal Court, and the Russian soldiers who will march in front of him are also not liberators from Nazism. They are occupiers, war criminals, looters, rapists, and murderers.
“In fact, Putin’s May 9 parade will glorify not the past victory over Nazi Germany, but the current fascist regime of the Russian Federation,” the ministry notes.
The agency calls on the international community to prevent Russia from destroying the world order, which is based on respect for international law and was established thanks to the joint victory over Nazism in World War II. Ukraine's partners are asked to join forces to increase pressure on the aggressor state, which should force Russia to stop the aggressive war against Ukraine and restore a comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine and all of Europe.
