Preservation of memory: the State Duma adopted a law on the inadmissibility of identifying the role of the USSR and Nazi Germany

Deputies of the State Duma in the third reading approved amendments to the law "On the perpetuation of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." According to the amendments, it is forbidden to publicly (in particular, in the media and the Internet) identify the goals, decisions and actions of the Soviet leadership, command and military personnel with the actions of Nazi Germany and the Axis countries during World War II, as well as deny the decisive role of the Soviet people in the defeat Hitlerites and the humanitarian mission of the USSR during the liberation of European countries.

“We consider it categorically unacceptable to mix and (or) identify the actions of the defenders of the Motherland, those who gave their lives in the struggle for its freedom and independence, the actions of the liberation soldiers, with the actions of the occupying soldiers aimed at destroying the peoples, the persons found guilty of committing crimes in accordance with the verdict of the International Military Tribunal for the trial and punishment of the main war criminals of the European Axis countries (the Nuremberg Tribunal), ”the explanatory note says.

It is indicated that the bill is aimed at preserving the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland, ensuring legal protection of the historical truth and the significance of the heroic deed of the people in the Great Patriotic War.

The authors of the legislative initiative were the head of the committee on culture Elena Yampolskaya, the first vice speaker of the lower house of parliament Alexander Zhukov and the chairman of the Federation Council commission on information policy Alexei Pushkov.

“Our principled position is to put a legislative barrier against the obvious insults addressed to our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, disgusting speculations on our Victory, not to allow political capital to be earned on defiling our ancestors, while maintaining space for historical research, scientific discussions, including discussions specific actions and deeds of specific individuals, "- said the authors of the initiative.

The project was prepared as part of the execution of the instructions of Vladimir Putin following the meeting of the Council for Culture and Arts under the President of the Russian Federation, which took place on October 27, 2020.

Note that the head of state has repeatedly spoken out about the need to defend the truth about Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

For example, in January 2020, Putin promised that Russia would open a center for archival documents related to World War II in order to "shut up" those who are trying to rewrite history.

Later, he called to resist attempts to distort the role of the USSR secret services in defeating Nazism and noted the need to defend the conclusions of the Nuremberg trials, since their oblivion could become a threat to world security.

In June 2020, the article “75 Years of the Great Victory: Shared Responsibility to History and the Future”, dedicated to the Second World War, was published.

In it, the Russian leader emphasized that forgetting the lessons of history "inevitably turns into heavy retribution," and stated that the Soviet Union and the Red Army made a decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism.

Also on russian.rt.com "Let's Firmly Defend the Truth": Putin wrote an article about World War II

On May 9, 2021, Putin, speaking at the Victory Parade in Moscow, said that at present, many of the ideology of the Nazis, obsessed with the theory of their exclusivity, are again trying to put into service - and not only radicals and groups of international terrorists: “Today we see gatherings unbeaten punishers and their followers, attempts to rewrite history, to justify traitors and criminals, on whose hands the blood of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people. "

"You can not oppose the memory of our people"

The first deputy head of the international committee of the Federation Council, Vladimir Dzhabarov, in a conversation with RT, called the law approved by the State Duma "very important and timely."

According to him, the number of attempts to rewrite history has recently increased in the West.

“The slightest attempt to equate the role of Russia and Germany is in fact a crime, it is unacceptable.

We must not allow history to be rewritten, ”he said.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies, IMEMO RAS, noted that Russia is setting up a barrier for the further spread of fables about the Great Patriotic War.

“These fables were not born yesterday, not the day before yesterday, they have been circulating in the international information space for a long time.

It is good that this law has been adopted, it will work more for the future - it will be a guideline for future generations, ”the interlocutor of RT explained.

According to Vladimir Shapovalov, Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, attempts to falsify the history of the Great Patriotic War have sharply increased recently, while they are being carried out within a specific system, and not by marginal historians, publicists, journalists and public figures of Western countries.

“This process must be stopped.

I believe that this kind of legal consolidation of this norm is necessary, obligatory, and demonstrates the fact that one can discuss and argue on a variety of issues, but one cannot oppose the memory of our people and distort it, and, in fact, this law is aimed at this " , - he said in a conversation with RT.