"We must resist attempts to distort history": Putin congratulated leaders and citizens of foreign countries on Victory Day

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the leaders and citizens of foreign countries on the 76th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The congratulations were published on the Kremlin website.

The Russian leader sent congratulatory messages to the leaders and citizens of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia.

Also, the head of state congratulated the peoples of Georgia and Ukraine. 

Vladimir Putin thanked all war veterans, wished them health and longevity, and also noted that on Victory Day, citizens honor with a special sense of pride the feat of their fathers and grandfathers, who bravely fought against the enemy and worked selflessly in the rear.

In addition, the head of state reiterated the need to combat attempts to falsify history.

“Today our moral duty is to carefully preserve and pass on to the younger generations the memory of the events of those harsh years.

We must together resolutely resist any attempts to distort and falsify history, revise the results of the Great Patriotic War, justify the monstrous atrocities committed by the Nazis and their henchmen, ”the President noted.

He also expressed confidence that the traditions of fraternal friendship have been and remain an unshakable basis for building and developing constructive, good-neighborly relations between countries and peoples.

In 2020, in his congratulations on Victory Day, Vladimir Putin also noted the need to resist any attempts to "whitewash and consign to oblivion the inhuman crimes committed by the Nazis and their accomplices."

Last year, the President also sent congratulations to the leadership and peoples of Great Britain, the United States and France, noting that the Victory was achieved thanks to the combined efforts of the Soviet Union and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

Let us remind you that Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that it is inadmissible to distort the historical memory of the course and results of the Great Patriotic War and the role of the USSR.

The Russian leader also drew attention to the attempts of a number of foreign countries to rewrite history.

In particular, in December 2019, the president sharply criticized the resolution of the European Parliament "On the importance of preserving historical memory for the future of Europe", in which the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of 1939 declared the cause of World War II. 

Putin admitted that he was surprised and offended by the resolution, which actually "put the Nazi aggressors and the Soviet Union on the same level." 

“The USSR, along with Nazi Germany, is almost accused of unleashing the Second World War.

As if they forgot who attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, ”the president recalled.

The head of state urged to continue publishing archival materials, to talk about the victories and defeats of the Red Army, the tragedies of prisoners, the Holocaust, the crimes of nationalists, stressing that "Russia's answer to lies will be the truth."

Later, during an informal meeting of the heads of CIS states, Vladimir Putin noted that Western countries deliberately keep silent about the Second World War in an attempt to shift the blame for its beginning from the Nazis to the Communists, and thus trying to hide the inconvenient moments of their own history.

In June 2020, Putin wrote an article on World War II that was published in The National Interest.

In the material, the President of Russia, on the basis of facts and archival data, pointed out the causes of the global conflict that lasted from 1939 to 1945.

The Russian leader also emphasized the decisive role of the USSR in the defeat of Nazism and again drew attention to the dangerous attempts of the West to revise the outcome of World War II.

“Forgetting the lessons of history inevitably turns into a heavy retribution.

We will firmly defend the truth based on documented historical facts, we will continue to honestly and impartially talk about the events of World War II, ”Putin said.

In addition, in January 2021, the President recommended to the State Duma to prepare a bill prohibiting publicly identifying the roles of the USSR and Nazi Germany in World War II.

On May 5, the corresponding bill was submitted to the lower house of parliament.