MINSK, August 18. /TASS/. The Second International Anti-Fascist Congress will help unite progressive forces in eradicating Nazi ideas, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said in a message to participants in the event’s plenary session, taking place in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

"I am confident that the Second International Anti-Fascist Congress will contribute to uniting the efforts of progressive forces from various countries aimed at eradicating hateful Nazi ideas," the message reads.

"Western globalist elites continue to talk about their exceptionalism, triggering deadly conflicts and coups, sowing the seeds of Russophobia and aggressive nationalism, destroying morality and family values, and seeking to impose their will on other nations, along with their system of violence and suppression. The goal of the present-day revanchists is to ensure Russia’s disintegration and collapse, destroy the [Russia-Belarus] Union State and finally break down the system of global security and international law. This is precisely the reason for the catastrophe that the Ukrainian people are enduring today. They have become hostage to the criminal regime in Kiev and its Western masters, and are being used as a bargaining chip for the implementation of the brutal, perfidiously evil plans [of the Kiev regime and its Western patrons]," Shoigu emphasized.

Anti-Fascist Congress

Over 30 countries are participating in the Second International Anti-Fascist Congress. The forum aims to unite healthy international forces to confront the spread of fascist and Nazi ideas and preserve the historical truth about World War II. The Congress brings together military delegations, diplomatic professionals, government officials and members of public organizations, as well as representatives of the academic community, major religious denominations, media outlets and veterans of the Great Patriotic War.

The First International Anti-Fascist Congress took place at the Patriot Congress and Exhibition Center outside Moscow on August 20, 2022, in conjunction with the Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum.