May 9, 2025 | The Telegraph
The best way to undermine Putin’s nasty revision of history is through mockery
The Russian president has shamelessly used VE day to paint a distorted version of WWII
May 9, 2025 | The Telegraph
The best way to undermine Putin’s nasty revision of history is through mockery
The Russian president has shamelessly used VE day to paint a distorted version of WWII
Excerpt
Every May 9, Russian president Vladimir Putin flexes his country’s military might with a grandiose, propagandistic display to mark the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II. Putin regularly appeals to a distorted history of the Second World War to justify Russia’s revanchist foreign policy, and it is high time for the United Kingdom and the United States to counter the Russian dictator’s exploitation of the past.
According to Putin’s version of history, the Soviet experience in World War II is a foundation stone for Russian exceptionalism: having lost millions of lives in a horrific conflict, Russia emerged set apart from other countries as a global savior uniquely qualified to combat Nazism yesterday and today.
Dr. Ivana Stradner serves as a research fellow with the Barish Center for Media Integrity at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.