Row Over Russian Envoy Overshadows German WW2 Commemoration

 

Row Over Russian Envoy Overshadows German WW2 Commemoration

The German government issued a warning on Wednesday against Russian efforts to "instrumentalise" events commemorating the 80th anniversary of World War II, following the attendance of Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev at a local event in the eastern town of Seelow. The commemoration honored the Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the final clashes of the war that preceded the Soviet army's advance on Berlin, culminating in Germany's capitulation in May 1945. Approximately 30,000 Soviet soldiers lost their lives in this pivotal battle.

During the ceremony, Nechayev laid a flower at the monument dedicated to the battle, a gesture accompanied by military attaches from the embassies of Belarus and Kazakhstan, both of which contributed troops to the Soviet effort.

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Earlier this year, Germany’s Foreign Office had issued guidance advising caution regarding possible Russian attempts to use the 80th anniversary events for propaganda. The ministry recommended that municipalities exercise their "host rights" and refrain from inviting Russian state representatives to commemorative events. "We can expect the Russian side to instrumentalise it to justify the attack on Ukraine," a spokesperson for the ministry stated during a regular news conference. "That's why the Foreign Office made a recommendation of that nature."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously characterized his invasion of Ukraine as a necessity for combating “Nazis,” attempting to leverage the legacy of World War II as justification for the conflict.

Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev voiced strong opposition to the presence of the Russian ambassador at the commemoration, saying, "It's inappropriate for a representative of a criminal regime that is attacking my country with missiles, bombs, and drones every day to be present at a commemoration of war victims."

Russia traditionally marks the sacrifices of the Soviet Union during the war, which resulted in the loss of more than 25 million lives, with a grand military parade held annually in Red Square.

In response to Germany's guidance, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented that the suggestion to exclude representatives from Russia and Belarus from anniversary events was an insult by what she described as "the ideological heirs and direct descendants of Hitler's executioners."

The Russian embassy did not immediately provide a comment on the situation.

The event in Seelow attracted domestic media attention, including Russian state television, but was primarily attended by a small crowd of local residents. Friedrich Hanke, the deputy administrator of the Märkisch-Oderland district, asserted ahead of the event that it would be "absurd" to prevent the ambassador from commemorating his compatriots. "We will treat him with the appropriate respect," Hanke remarked to broadcaster RBB.