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Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evoked Red Army glory in World War II in an attempt to justify his war in Ukraine. In a fiery speech, Putin drew false parallels, claiming that Russia was once again in a military conflict with Germany and would again triumph over its enemies.
“Unfortunately, we see that the ideology of Nazism in its modern form and manifestation again directly threatens the security of our country,” Putin told a group of soldiers and members of local patriotic groups.
“Unbelievable, unbelievable but true — once again we are threatened with German Leopard tanks with crosses on their sides,” Putin continued. “And once again they are going to fight Russia on Ukrainian soil with the hands of Hitler’s descendants.”
Germany recently agreed to send tanks to Ukraine to help repel the Russian onslaught, which Putin has repeatedly cast as a fight against Nazism, though it is Russia that now embodies dictatorship.
People visit the Stalingrad Battle Museum in Volgograd on Jan. 25.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
The Battle of Stalingrad is regarded as the most crucial standoff between the Soviet army and Nazi Germany, one that is credited with turning the tide of the war.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Thursday’s commemoration was an eerie throwback to the Soviet era: Authorities erected a new monument to former dictator Joseph Stalin, according to local media, while dozens of men marched on the city in uniforms of the NKVD, the Soviet-era secret police known for mass extrajudicial killings and the infamous gulag system of forced-labor camps.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Banners of Stalin hang on buildings in Volgograd as Russians marked the 80th anniversary of the Stalingrad battle.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
Russians rebury the remains of Soviet soldiers killed in the Battle of Stalingrad in Rossoshka, a village outside Volgograd, on Wednesday.
A man poses by a newly unveiled bronze bust of Stalin in Volgograd on Wednesday.
Participants dressed in historical uniforms march Thursday during a military parade marking the victory of the Red Army over Nazi Germany in Stalingrad during World War II.
Kirill Braga/Reuters
Kirill Braga/Reuters
Men in Red Army uniforms take part in the parade.
People handle Soviet World War II-era guns during celebrations in Volgograd on Thursday.
In preparation for Putin’s visit, the city stayed true to the Potemkin village tradition by putting on a facade of prosperity: Poorly maintained buildings and rusty fences were covered up with tarpaulins and war-themed banners. Stray dogs were removed and locked away, and internet service was reportedly shutdown in central parts of the town for security purposes.
“This is how a nationwide celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad turns out, Putin style — without real citizens, without the Internet, arms at side,” wrote prominent Russian journalist Farida Rustamova.
Guests watch the military parade in Volgograd.
A man holds a portrait of Stalin in front of a monument to Soviet Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukov in Moscow on Thursday.
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Putin insisted that Russia would win its current war. “Willingness to go to the end and do the impossible for the sake of the truth was and is in the blood of the multinational people of the Russian Federation,” he said. “Russia is confident in itself, in its rightness and victory.”
Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Putin attends a wreath-laying ceremony at the Battle of Stalingrad Museum in Volgograd on Thursday.
Pool/Sputnik
Pool/Sputnik
Putin delivers a speech at the event.
Pool/Sputnik/AP
Pool/Sputnik/AP
A statue of the “Mother of the Homeland” is illuminated in Volgograd on Wednesday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad.
Putin also threatened the West, lambasting the military aid sent to Ukraine by its Western backers. “Those who expect to win on the battlefield apparently do not understand that a modern war with Russia will be utterly different for them,” he said, adding: “We have a way to respond, and it will not just end with the use of armored vehicles. Everyone should understand this.”
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