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Vladimir Putin compared his war on Ukraine to the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in a fiery speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad.
Regarded as the bloodiest in history, the five-month fight proved a major turning point in the Second World War, with Hitler’s troops forced into a humiliating retreat.
It has deep resonance in modern Russia and remains an immense source of pride.
Speaking in the same city, which has been known as Volgograd since 1961, the Russian president said ‘the ideology of Nazism, in its modern guise once again poses direct threats to the security of our country’.
He told an audience of army officers and members of local patriotic and youth groups: ‘Again and again we have to repel the aggression of the collective West.
‘It’s incredible but it’s a fact: we are again being threatened with German Leopard tanks with crosses on them.’
Putin delivers his speech as he attends commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Battle of Stalingrad (Picture: AP)
Russian officials have been drawing parallels with the struggle against the Nazis ever since Russian forces entered Ukraine almost a year ago.
Ukraine – which was part of the Soviet Union and itself suffered devastation at the hands of Hitler’s forces – rejects those parallels as spurious pretexts for a war of imperial conquest.
Putin evoked what he said was the spirit of the defenders of Stalingrad to explain why he thought Russia would prevail in Ukraine, saying the battle had become a symbol of ‘the indestructible nature of our people’.
He also warned he was ready to draw on Russia’s entire arsenal, which includes nuclear weapons.
‘Those who draw European countries, including Germany, into a new war with Russia, and … expect to win a victory over Russia on the battlefield, apparently don’t understand that a modern war with Russia will be quite different for them,’ he added.
‘We don’t send our tanks to their borders but we have the means to respond, and it won’t end with the use of armoured vehicles, everyone must understand that.’
Putin was given a standing ovation when he finished speaking.
Putin lays flowers on the tomb of Soviet Marshal Vasily Chuikov (Picture: Reuters)
The Russian President attends a wreath-laying ceremony (Picture: Reuters)
He had earlier laid flowers at the grave of the Soviet marshal who oversaw the defence of Stalingrad and visited the city’s main memorial complex, where he held a minute’s silence in honour of those who died during the battle.
Thousands of people lined Volgograd’s streets to watch a victory parade as planes flew overhead and modern and Second World War-era tanks and armoured vehicles rolled past.
Some of the modern vehicles had the letter ‘V’ painted on them, a symbol used by Russia’s forces in Ukraine which has ironically been likened to the Nazis’ swastika emblem.
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‘It’s incredible but it’s a fact: we are again being threatened with German Leopard tanks with crosses on them.’
