80th anniversary
How the commemoration of the Battle of Stalingrad is misused for propaganda in Russia
The Battle of Stalingrad in World War II lasted from August 1942 to February 1943. In the end, more than a million people were dead.
©Tass / AFP
The Battle of Stalingrad ended 80 years ago. For some Russian propagandists, this is a welcome opportunity to legitimize the war against Ukraine. But there is also a contradiction about commemoration.
80 years after the Battle of Stalingrad – one of the bloodiest chapters of World War II – volunteers like Andrei Oreshkin are still recovering the remains of Soviet soldiers who died at the time. More than a million Red Army soldiers died defending the city against the Germans for months in 1942/1943. The unimaginable magnitude of that sacrifice has made Stalingrad a symbol of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany – and an important reference point for contemporary patriotism in the conflict with Ukraine.
Kremlin draws parallels between war against Nazis and Ukraine
The offensive in Ukraine has made the February 2 anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad even more significant this year. The Kremlin has been trying for months to portray the Ukraine operation as another fight against Nazis – like the fight against the Germans fought two generations earlier in the southern Russian city now called Volgograd.
Second World War
Operation Zitadelle – This offensive should make Stalingrad forget
Many Russians are receptive to this message, including Andrei Oreshkin, who leads an initiative to search for remains from World War II. “Of course we fight fascism” in Ukraine, he told the AFP news agency at the Rossoshka war cemetery near Volgograd, where Russian, German and Romanian soldiers are buried. Like Moscow’s leaders, he sees the root of the conflict with Ukraine in the West’s misjudgment of Russia’s determination and capabilities. “Back then, Nazi Germany and its allies underestimated the Soviet Union, its power and the patriotism of the people. Today, the West hopes that Russia is weak.”
Memorial to the Battle of Stalingrad near present-day Volgograd
© Kirill Kudryvtsev / AFP
Such comparisons with the past can be found everywhere in Volgograd. In the city with its one million inhabitants, every street keeps alive the memory of the destruction 80 years ago. Symbols of Russia’s troops in Ukraine – the Latin letters Z and V – are placed right next to insignia honoring the Soviet troops. As soon as he gave the order to attack Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced that he would “denazify” Ukraine.
At the Battle of Stalingrad Museum, Tatyana Prikachikova says that after centuries of confrontation, Western criticism of Russia is “nothing new.” The museum organized celebrations for the families of Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine. “The message is that her ancestors fought fascism,” Prikachikova explains, pointing to a panoramic photo of the Battle of Stalingrad. Russian soldiers today “follow this tradition”.
Celebrations of the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad
The museum also hosted a ceremony of the Defense Ministry-sponsored Patriotic Youth Army, praising children as “descendants of the Stalingrad victors.” The well-known war memorials of Volgograd were also used as meeting points for soldiers on their way to Ukraine.
Preparations are underway in present-day Volograd for the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad
© Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP
Most of the city’s residents AFP spoke to support large-scale celebrations to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, but many don’t necessarily want the Ukraine comparison.
Yekaterina Sedova, a 21-year-old chemistry student whose grandfather fought in Stalingrad, says: “We should remember[Stalingrad]so that we don’t make the same mistakes and draw the same conclusions.” She took part in commemorative events, but did not want to mix up the commemoration with the conflict in Ukraine.
“Tragedy for our country”
Other respondents think the celebrations, which President Putin is said to want to attend on Thursday, are too pompous. “The battle (for Stalingrad) was a tragedy for Volgograd and for our country,” says 31-year-old Maria Anshakova. She pleads for a silent commemoration.
Historian and activist Vyacheslav Yashchenko explains that the celebrations have been much more elaborate in recent years than in Soviet times. The victories of the Second World War are enormously important for his country, but the political leadership uses historical events “to improve the country’s image and to manipulate people’s consciousness”.
Historian and activist Vyacheslav Yashchenko
© Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP
Meanwhile, at the Rossoshka war cemetery, Andrei Oreshkin shows insignia of soldiers that he found in the loamy earth outside of Volgograd. His organization recovered the remains of more than 1,200 Red Army soldiers in the fields surrounding the city in the past year alone. “Future generations may have to do what we’re doing here,” he sighs. “I only hope that the dead are not simply left lying in fields. And that those responsible learn from our experience.”