Putin Vows to Defend Russia's Role in WWII Victory Over Nazism

Russian President Putin said a statement dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet army that any attempts to rewrite history and to revise Russia's contribution to the victory in the WWII meant, in essence, the glorification of Nazi crimes leading to the revision of this ideology.

MOSCOW, January 26 (Sputnik) — Any attempts to revise Russia's contribution to the victory in the fight against Nazism during World War II should be viewed as glorification of Nazi crimes, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"We must clearly understand that any attempts to rewrite history, to revise our contribution to the Great Victory mean, in essence, the glorification of Nazi crimes leading to the revision of deadly Nazi ideology," Putin said in a statement dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the  concentration camp by the Soviet army.

"We must defend the truth about the events of the Second World War…as forgetting the lessons of our common past could lead to the repetition of these terrible tragedies [during the Holocaust]," the statement said.