On May 8, Ukraine and the world mark the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazism in the Second World War (1939–1945). A victory that laid the foundation for the post-war world order and the development of humankind.
That bloody war claimed millions of lives, shattered countless destinies, and destroyed millions of families. Its devastating consequences were expected to serve as a lasting lesson for future generations and as a firm guarantee of what we recall every year on this day: “Never Again!”
The generation of victors, who fought to reclaim peace on the planet, believed that their descendants would live in a peaceful and secure world. All the peoples of the former USSR, as well as the Allied nations of the anti-Hitler coalition, made invaluable contributions to defeating Nazism for the sake of a happy and peaceful future for the generations to come.
Today, however, we are witnessing that the Russian Federation, having launched the largest war of conquest in Europe since the Second World War, tries to appropriate the victory over Nazism. The Kremlin claims that Russia would have won the war alone, without the Allies or peoples from other nations, and seeks to monopolize the shared victory over Hitler. As if Russia alone played the decisive role and suffered the greatest losses. In reality, the greatest human and material losses were borne not by Russia, but by the countries and peoples caught between it and Nazi Germany — first and foremost, the Ukrainian people.
It is also important to remember that the liberation of Europe from Nazism had not brought freedom to many European nations. After the war, Stalin’s regime occupied Central and Eastern Europe. The Soviet regime committed numerous crimes: the suppression of national identities, political repression, mass deportations to Siberia on fabricated charges, and the violation of human rights, freedom of conscience, and other fundamental liberties. All these crimes must be duly condemned.
Unlike Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and many other nations working to achieve peace, modern-day Russia has not only failed to learn from the past — it has embraced the slogan “We can do it again” and adopted militarism and neo-imperialism as its ideology.
By emphasizing its supposed exclusive role in the victory over Nazism, the Kremlin seeks to divert attention from its crimes — both past and present, including its ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.
Tomorrow, on May 9, Russia will once again hold its annual parade — an event which for years has served not so much to honor the memory of those who perished in the war, but to advance its propaganda objectives. Even its announcement of a three-day ceasefire only proves that Moscow values parades and militant propaganda more than human life or the restoration of peace.
The war criminal who will preside over this parade has nothing in common with the victory over Nazism. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court. The Russian soldiers who will march in front of him are not liberators — they are occupiers, war criminals, looters, rapists, and murderers.
In fact, Putin’s May 9 parade will glorify not the past victory over Nazi Germany, but the current fascist regime of the Russian Federation.
We call on the international community not to allow Russia to destroy the post-war world order — one that was built on the foundations of international law and made possible by our shared victory over Nazism in the Second World War.
We urge our partners to unite their efforts to increase pressure on the aggressor state. Russia must be forced to end its war of aggression against Ukraine and to restore comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine and for all of Europe, based on respect for international law, the UN Charter, and the Helsinki Final Act.