Russia announced Thursday February 13 the death at 103 years of Alexei Botian, spy and veteran of the Second World War who had played according to Moscow a crucial role in the rescue of Krakow, a version disputed by Poland.
“President Vladimir Putin offers his deep condolences to those close to Alexei Botian. He knew him well and was proud of his exploits, his courage and his patriotism, " Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters. The SVR, the foreign intelligence service to which the spy belonged, for its part hailed "a bright and kind-hearted person" .
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According to the version reported by the SVR, Alexeï Botiane had helped in January 1945 with the destruction of an ammunition depot where the Germans stored explosives which they wanted to use before their retirement to destroy a dam and drown Cracow under water. The Russian authorities assure that Alexei Botian considered his role in the rescue of the Polish city as the feat of his life. In 2007, Vladimir Putin had decorated him with the title of "Hero of Russia", the most prestigious decoration in the country.
A common history but not always shared
"Old Krakow - the most beautiful city in Europe - has been preserved for Poland and world culture, in many ways thanks to your courage," said the Russian president. This version of the Krakow rescue is however questioned in Poland, engaged in recent months in a battle of memory with the Kremlin on the Second World War.
In the days of communist Poland, the local authorities had thus attributed no key role to Alexei Botian in their propaganda. However, he received the highest military honors in the country.
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According to his official biography, Alexei Botian had grown up in a region of western Belarus then belonging to Poland. At the start of the war, he served in Polish anti-aircraft defense and then joined the Red Army after the capitulation of Poland. Having become a Soviet citizen, he joined a unit of the NKVD, the ancestor of the KGB, after the Nazi invasion of the USSR in 1941, and specialized in missions behind enemy lines. After the war, he continued his spy work.
In recent months, Vladimir Putin has accused Warsaw of colluding with Hitler and the Polish resistance for executing Jews and Ukrainians, while Poland denounced the "restoration of Stalinist propaganda" by Moscow.
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