Putin: Russia’s WWI victory was stolen 

Vladimir Putin makes another detour into Russian history

Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks that Russia had its victory in World War I stolen. He said this today during the opening ceremony of the monument to the fallen WWI heroes on Poklonnaya hill, reports UNIAN.

As such, the Russian President thinks that throughout many centuries Russia has stood for strong and trusting relations between states.

According to Putin, this was the case on the eve of World War I, when Russia did everything it could to convince Europe to solve the conflict between Serbia and Austria-Hungary peacefully and without bloodshed. However, Russia went unheard, and it was forced to respond to the challenge “by protecting its fraternal Slavic people, protecting itself, and its citizens from an external threat.”

“Russia did its duty as an ally. Its advances in Prussia and in Galicia disrupted the enemy’s plans, gave the allies the opportunity to hold the front and defend Paris, and compelled the enemy to send most of its forces to the east, where Russian troops fought fearlessly. And the entire world heard about the legendary Brusilov Offensive (the events unfolded on Ukrainian territory – editors). However, this victory was stolen from the country. Stolen by those who called for the defeat of their Motherland, their army, incited animosity within Russia, strived to capture power, betraying national interests,” said Putin.

According to him, the tragedy of World War I reminds us of what “aggression and egoism lead to – the immeasurable ambitions of state leaders and political elites, which overcome common sense, and instead of preserving the most well-off continent in the world, Europe, subject it to danger.”

He stated that there are many examples in world history of “how high the cost is of the people’s unwillingness to heed each other, the disrespect of rights and freedoms of others, as well as the neglect of legitimate interests in favor of one’s own interests and ambitions.”

As a reminder, after the revolution happened in Russia and the Communists came to power, the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty was signed in 1918, maring the defeat and withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.

Translated by Mariya Shcherbinina, Edited by Andrew Kinder