MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Russian soldiers taking part in the special military operation in Ukraine are combatting evil brought forth by those who forgot the lessons of history, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

In his welcome message to the organizers of and participants in the events to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Putin stressed it was the Soviet people who put an end to Nazi barbarism back in 1945.

"We must clearly understand that any attempts to reconsider the contribution our country made to the Great Victory effectively means justifying Nazi crimes, while paving the way for a comeback of this deadly ideology," Putin said.

"Neglecting history can prompt a repetition of horrible tragedies," the Russian leader warned. "Crimes against peaceful civilians, ethnic purges and punitive measures being undertaken by neo-Nazis in Ukraine prove that. It is with this evil that our warriors are fighting courageously."

International Holocaust Remembrance Day occurs annually on January 27 to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland by the Red Army in 1945.

In a meeting with Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar and President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia Alexander Boroda, Putin recalled that the majority of Jews slaughtered by the Nazis were Soviet citizens. Russia "is resolutely against forgetting such crimes," and has been doing everything it can to prevent a repetition of similar murders, the Russian leader emphasized.