MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin castigated Europe on Saturday for “Russophobia” and criticized the Baltic States over human rights on the unveiling of a World Warfare Two memorial.
Since he despatched Russian troops into Ukraine almost two years in the past, Putin has been making comparisons with the battle in opposition to the Nazis to be able to rally his nation.
“The regime in Kyiv exalts Hitler’s accomplices, the SS males … In various European nations, Russophobia is promoted as state coverage,” Putin mentioned within the Leningrad area for the eightieth anniversary of the top of the Nazi siege.
The Germans’ goals then had been to steal the Soviet Union’s assets and remove its folks, he mentioned.
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 struggle of conquest.
In his speech, Putin additionally lambasted the Baltic States over human rights. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – dominated from Moscow in the course of the Chilly Warfare however now members of the European Union and NATO army alliance – have been among the many strongest critics of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Within the Baltic states, tens of 1000’s of individuals are declared subhuman, disadvantaged of their most simple rights, and subjected to persecution,” Putin mentioned, referring to migration crackdowns. Moscow has repeatedly accused the Baltic nations of xenophobia and treating Russian minorities as “second-class”.
