VOLGOGRAD, February 2. /TASS/. The Nazis and their henchmen from almost all countries of conquered Europe were defeated by Soviet soldiers near Stalingrad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a gala concert dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad on Thursday.
"The Battle of Stalingrad deservedly went down in history as an event that turned the tide in the Great Patriotic War. Together with the defeat of the largest group of the Wehrmacht and its satellites, the will of the entire Nazi coalition was defeated. The European vassals and minions of Nazi Germany - and quite a few of them, representatives of almost all countries of conquered Europe fought in Stalingrad - began to feverishly look for ways to escape, to evade responsibility, and shift all the blame on their former patrons," Putin said.
"It became completely clear to everyone what the Soviet people knew from the beginning: the Nazi plans to destroy our country, all their ideas of world domination were doomed to fail," he stressed.
Putin recalled that exactly 80 years ago on the land of Stalingrad, on the banks of the Volga, "a hated and cruel enemy was stopped and irreversibly rolled back and the long, hard, fierce battle of Stalingrad ended."
"This battle was not just a battle for that city. The very existence of a war-ravaged but unconquered country was at stake. The outcome of not only the Great Patriotic War, but of the entire Second World War was determined. Everyone felt it and was aware of that. Both in the trenches and in the rear. We, as it had happened more than once in our history, rallied in a decisive battle and won," the president concluded.