News Desk
ISLAMABAD/MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared his country’s invasion of Ukraine to the fight against Nazi Germany during a key speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the wrapping up of the Battle of Stalingrad, a major battle fought on the Eastern Front of World War II where the then Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the then Soviet Union to take control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia.
Citing Germany’s decision of sending tanks to Ukraine, Putin said that history was repeating itself.
The Russian president said it was unbelievable but true, and German Leopard tanks threatened them again. Germany was one of many countries that was helping Ukraine to fight Russia.
Full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Russia launched its bloody, full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago, prompting Western countries to send weapons and aid to Kyiv.
Speaking in Volgograd, the new name for Stalingrad, the Russian president hinted that Russia could seek to move beyond conventional weapons.
“Those who dream of defeating Russia on the battlefield did not understand, it seems, that a modern war with Russia would be very different for them,” Putin said, adding that they were not sending their tanks to their borders, but they had the means to respond. It would not be limited to the use of only armoured hardware. Everyone should understand this.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Putin’s comments but told reporters that “as the collective West delivers new weapons, Russia would make greater use of its potential to respond”.
Putin was in Volgograd to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II’s Battle of Stalingrad that saw the Soviet army capture nearly 91,000 German troops in a significant war turning point.
Over a million people perished in the Russia-Uraine battle- the bloodiest of the conflict.
Volgograd has temporarily renamed Stalingrad for the day to mark the 8th anniversary, and earlier this week, a new bust of the former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was unveiled.
