Putin compares the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the war against Nazi Germany

Moscow:

President Vladimir Putin used a World War II memorial on Thursday to rally support for his army’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 lend cult status to Moscow’s victory in what the Russians call the Great Patriotic War.

Arriving in the southern city of Volgograd for commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, which was won at a huge cost, Putin sought to boost support for his attack on Ukraine.

He compared Russia’s so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine to the war against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945, claiming that the Russians were ready to go “to the end”.

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

“We are not sending tanks to their borders, but we have something to respond with, and it’s not just about using armored vehicles. Everyone should understand this,” he added.

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

Since sending troops to 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 willingness to go to the end, to do the impossible for the sake of the motherland, for the sake of the truth was – and is – in the blood, in the character of our multinational people,” Putin said.

He spoke after laying flowers at the city’s legendary memorial – a hilltop memorial to the battle featuring the towering 85-foot statue of a woman with sword raised, known as “The Motherland Calls”.

The commemorations in the southern Russian city come as the Kremlin looks to step up its offensive in Ukraine, backed by tens of thousands of reservists mobilized last fall.

The Battle of Stalingrad of 1942-1943 raged for nearly six months and when it was over the city lay in ruins and over a million soldiers and civilians had lost their lives.

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

Russia has claimed recent gains near the hotspot city of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Moscow recently announced the capture of the eastern city of Soledar as it seeks to wrest control of the entire Donetsk region – a region it claims to have annexed.

Although the significance of capturing the salt mining town is disputed, Soledar was the first major victory for the Russian forces after a series of ground setbacks.

– Bust of Stalin –

A bust of dictator Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Volgograd on the eve of Putin’s arrival.

Since Putin came to power in Russia in 2000, a growing chorus of Russians has welcomed the despot’s role in history, and analysts have pointed to Stalin’s creeping rehabilitation in the country.

Nostalgic for the USSR’s superpower status, many Russian officials promoted Stalin as a stalwart leader who led the Soviet Union to victory in World War II and spearheaded the country’s industrialization.

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

Officials declared public holidays in Volgograd on Wednesday and Thursday at the request of 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 February 2 and May 9, when Russia holds nationwide celebrations on the anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NewsMadura staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)