‘We are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks:’ Putin

• Vladimir Putin equated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the struggle against Nazi Germany.
• The bloodiest battle of the war, almost a million people died in it.
• Earlier this week, a new bust of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was unveiled.

In a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, Vladimir Putin equated Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the struggle against Nazi Germany.

The Russian president claimed that history was being repeated by citing Germany’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine.

One of several nations assisting Ukraine in defending its territory is Germany.

Nearly a year ago, Russia began its brutal, all-out invasion, provoking Western nations to contribute arms and assistance to the Kyiv administration.

Putin made a suggestion that he would try to go beyond conventional weaponry while speaking at Volgograd, the modern name for Stalingrad.

Despite declining to comment further on Mr. Putin’s remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did tell reporters that “when new weapons are provided by the collective West, Russia will make greater use of its potential to respond.”

Mr. Putin was in Volgograd to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, a crucial turning point in World War Two that saw the Soviet army capture roughly 91,000 German troops.

The bloodiest battle of the war, almost a million people died in it.

To commemorate the occasion, Volgograd was given the temporary moniker Stalingrad for the day. Earlier this week, a new bust of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was unveiled.

Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953, was charged with planning a famine in Ukraine in 1932–1933.

Estimated to have killed five million people, the incident—known to Ukrainians as the Holodomor—was this week recognised as a genocide in Bulgaria.

Mr. Putin has wrongly attempted to portray Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a struggle against nationalists and Nazis, which he claims are in charge of the Kyiv administration, throughout the entire conflict.

And he made reference to the theme repeatedly in his address.

Although it was “unbelievable but real” that German tanks were once more threatening Russia, he declared that Moscow had a response for any nation that dared to challenge it.

Berlin has promised to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which has led the Russian corporation Fores, a company in the energy sector based in the Urals, to give the first Russian soldier to destroy or seize one five million roubles (£58,250).

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