Russian President Vladimir Putin castigated Europe on Saturday for “Russophobia” and criticized the Baltic States over human rights on the unveiling of a Second World War memorial.
Since he despatched Russian troops into Ukraine almost two years in the past, Putin has been making comparisons with the combat towards the Nazis as a way to rally his nation.
“The regime in Kyiv exalts Hitler’s accomplices, the SS males … In various European international locations, Russophobia is promoted as state coverage,” Putin stated within the Leningrad area for the eightieth anniversary of the tip of the Nazi siege.
The Germans’ goals then had been to steal the Soviet Union’s sources and get rid of its individuals, he stated.
Ukraine, which was a part of the Soviet Union and itself suffered devastation by the hands of Hitler’s forces, rejects comparisons as spurious pretexts for a warfare of conquest.
In his speech, Putin additionally lambasted the Baltic States over human rights. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – dominated from Moscow through the Cold War however now members of the European Union and NATO navy alliance – have been among the many strongest critics of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In the Baltic states, tens of 1000’s of individuals are declared subhuman, disadvantaged of their most simple rights, and subjected to persecution,” Putin stated, referring to migration crackdowns. Moscow has repeatedly accused the Baltic nations of xenophobia and treating Russian minorities as “second-class.”