NOVO-OGARYOVO, May 20. /TASS/. The increasingly frequent attempts to falsify history and rewrite the role of the Red Army in the defeat of Nazism are caused by Russia’s increasing strength, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Thursday, adding that the country has always faced this trend.
"Since the great generation of victors is passing away, unfortunately, that makes our responsibility for their legacy even stronger, especially at a time when we are increasingly faced with attempts to twist and distort history, and redefine the role of the Red Army in defeating Nazism, and in liberating the peoples of Europe from the brown plague," the head of state said.
Putin attributed the efforts to weaken Russia and discredit its history to Russia becoming stronger and fighting for its national interests.
"The reasons are clear. What’s more, attempts to contain the development of our country, regardless of what it was called in the past - the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union - were taken during different times, historic eras, with different political systems, approaches and principles, have remained the same," Putin noted.
According to the President, the "principle is the same and the reason is the same: the containment of Russia."
"The stronger, the more independent Russia is, the more consistently she fights for her national interests, the stronger is the desire to weaken her, to discredit the values that unite society, and at times even falsify and pervert what people hold dear, what the new generations of our citizens are being brought up with and what shapes their character and views," the President noted.
"This is why all sorts of Russophobes and unscrupulous politicians attempt to attack our history and push the ideas of revising the outcome of World War II and exonerating Nazi criminals," the Russian leader said.