Germany slams Russian ‘lies’ about Ukraine during WWII commemoration day

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticizes Russia’s “historical lies” over the Ukraine war, as he marks the Nazi defeat that ended World War II in Europe 80 years ago.

In a speech to parliament in Berlin, Steinmeier expresses gratitude to the Allied soldiers and resistance movements that defeated Nazi Germany “with all their strength and at great sacrifice.”

He also praises the Soviet Red Army — in which Russian and Ukrainian troops fought side-by-side — for their role in the Nazis’ defeat, noting it had liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

“We do not forget this,” Steinmeier tells the Bundestag, during a somber commemoration on the May 8 anniversary of Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allies.

“But precisely because of this, we firmly oppose the Kremlin’s historical lies today.”

Russia has cast its three-year offensive against Ukraine as a fight against “neo-Nazis” and has channeled its own wartime legacy to justify the war.

But Steinmeier goes on: “The war against Ukraine is not a continuation of the fight against fascism.

“(President Vladimir) Putin’s war of aggression, his campaign against a free, democratic country, has nothing in common with the fight against Nazi tyranny in World War II.”

Others in the West and Kyiv, including independent experts, have also rejected Moscow’s narratives.

Germany has been a key backer of Kyiv in its fight against Moscow. Russia’s ambassador to Berlin was not invited to today’s commemoration, which was being marked with a public holiday in the capital.