"The difference is for us the WWII is more and more history, and for you [Russia] is a current event," Toby Gati said. "A lot of people remember Victory Day and are very grateful, but it's not today's event in other countries as much as it is in Russia."
A poll conducted by ICM Research for Sputnik and released Tuesday showed that 13 percent of Europeans think the Soviet Army played the key role in liberating Europe from Nazism during the World War II.
Gati stated that the figures "shocked" him and he expressed a certainty that this is not the case in the United States.
"A lot has happened since then, and you can't blame people for remembering events that are closer to today than they are to the past," she said. "I don't think anyone here downplays the role of the Soviet army."
"I think the Soviet Army role in WWII should never be forgotten," Gati concluded.
The Soviet Union World War II casualties exceeded 27 millions, 8.7 million of which soldiers and officers and the remainder citizens behind battle lines. Allied powers, which included the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain, among others, together lost about 14 million people.
