Vladimir Putin celebrated the victory of the Soviet Union over Hitler’s Germany during the week and showed where his propaganda machine is headed. He might not like the reaction from Ukraine.
Munich/Kyiv – 80 years after the Battle of Stalingrad, a war is raging in Europe again. Again it is an escalation of violence that takes the lives of thousands of people and drives away countless others. Vladimir Putin, who travels very little now, used the anniversary to launch his very own battle: that of propaganda.
The Kremlin boss, who according to experts is also coming under increasing domestic pressure, unsurprisingly took the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Hitler’s Germany in the winter of 1942/43 as an opportunity to justify the Ukraine war. It was impressive to observe in which direction his propaganda machine was running. It aims at the new Germany under Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “Unbelievable but true, we are again being threatened by German tanks wearing crosses,” Putin drew the comparison to the Third Reich after Germany’s commitment to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Putin’s propaganda battle against Germany and Ukraine
“Today we unfortunately have to realize that the ideology of National Socialism in its modern guise, in its modern form, once again poses a direct threat to the security of our country. Again and again we are forced to fend off the aggression of the collective West,” is Putin’s version in today’s Volgograd.
Scholz is described as Nazi scum on Russian television, including the threat that Berlin will be destroyed if Germany continues to supply arms to Ukraine. “We have something to answer with. And the matter does not end with the use of armored vehicles. Everyone should understand that,” the Russian President said. (How many Bundeswehr Eurofighters protect German airspace)
Ukrainians react with ridicule: Putin’s propaganda apparently backfires
Katrin Eigendorf, ZDF correspondent in Kyiv, explained in the “heute journal” on February 2: “Putin’s misuse of history to justify the war of aggression is nothing new.” Even Ukrainian parliamentarians would see: Putin is leading what Hitler has done, now against the Ukraine. According to Eigendorf, there is even a certain mockery of Putin on social networks. “The attitude he embodies is no longer taken seriously by parts of the population. The anniversary celebrations in Volgograd were not an important topic in Kyiv,” she said on the day that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Kyiv.
Putin’s propaganda apparently backfires. A humiliation for the Russian President, who, not only since the beginning of the war, has been trying to convince the Ukrainian population to denazify their own government. He remains unsuccessful.
Anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war: Defense Minister fears Putin
However, the Ukrainians must continue to fear the aggression of Putin and his army. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov expects that Russia will “try something” on February 24 – the first anniversary of the war. Moscow has massed “nearly 500,000 troops” in preparation for an impending attack, which the minister said could take place on two fronts: in the east and south of Donbass — the region that includes Russia’s two annexed Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
The Ukrainian military will prepare for a counter-offensive, it said. And: Ukraine must not “lose the initiative” on the battlefield. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) goes into a current report also assumes that the Russian army will try to capture Donetsk and Luhansk completely.
Heavy attacks on Ukraine also took place on Saturday. According to a Ukrainian situation report on Saturday, the Russian military regrouped on numerous war fronts and expanded its offensive actions in order to make progress in occupying the Donbas after weeks of unsuccessful attempts. 80 years after the worst battle of World War II, there seems to be no end in sight to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
#ZDF #correspondent #reports #humiliation #Russias #dictator #Putin #Ukraine