Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned attempts to "rewrite" the history of World War II, blaming Western countries for it. The statement was made during a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kremlin announced, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reports.
“The two sides stressed their determination to uphold the historical truth about the events of World War II and to oppose any attempts to revise its results or falsify history“, the official press release of the Russian presidency said.
During the conversation, emphasis was placed on “the decisive contribution of the Red Army and the Soviet people to the defeat of Nazism“, the Kremlin also noted. The two leaders also discussed the current situation in the Middle East, as well as the state of Russian-Israeli relations.
Putin regularly accuses the West of historical revisionism and attempts to downplay the role of the Soviet Union in the victory over Nazi Germany. For Moscow, the victory in 1945 remains a central element of national identity and patriotism.
The Second World War is believed to have claimed the lives of more than 20 million people in the Soviet Union and left a deep mark on society. Russian authorities often use this historical narrative to justify modern policies - including the invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin regularly compares to the fight against Nazism, AFP recalls.