Moscow launches WWII anniversary conference
(MENAFN) Moscow has launched an international conference in honor of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II. The two-day academic forum, held at the President Hotel, began on Tuesday and features over 40 historians from 25 countries across Eastern Europe, the CIS, Asia, and Africa.
The event coincides with preparations for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9, commemorating the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany and honoring the estimated 26.6 million Soviet lives lost in the war. The annual military parade on Red Square is expected to be attended by more than 20 foreign leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Sergey Naryshkin, head of the Russian Historical Society and director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, sent a message to attendees stressing the need to resist efforts to distort or politicize history. He emphasized the collective effort behind the Nazi defeat, acknowledging Soviet soldiers, the European resistance, Chinese fighters, and the broader anti-Hitler coalition.
Historian Aleksandr Chubaryan noted the importance of combating “historical amnesia,” while MGIMO University Rector Anatoly Torkunov suggested that modern geopolitical shifts require a renewed understanding of the wartime alliances and diplomacy.
The forum comes amid controversy in the West. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas recently advised EU candidate states against attending the May 9 festivities, drawing sharp criticism from Russian officials. Meanwhile, Germany reportedly instructed its institutions to avoid inviting Russian and Belarusian representatives to WWII memorial events—actions Moscow condemned as disrespectful to the memory of the war’s victims.
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