Russia celebrates this Thursday the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.
The beginning of 1943 marked a major turning point in the Second World War (1939-1945).
It is also the symbol of patriotism advocated with redoubled force by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the midst of the war in Ukraine.
The celebrations come as fierce fighting pits Russian forces against Ukrainian soldiers in the former Soviet republic, the scene for more than a year of a Russian offensive launched according to the Kremlin to "demilitarize" and "denazify" this country neighbor.
The Russian president travels to the city, currently called Volgograd, to take part in the celebrations.
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Considered one of the bloodiest in history, with around two million deaths in total on both sides, the Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943) changed the course of the conflict in the Soviet Union (USSR), demoralized until there by several crushing defeats against Nazi Germany.
It is still glorified by Russia, which claims the legacy of the Soviet Union as the event that saved Europe from Nazism.
Victory in this battle takes on added symbolic significance as we approach the first anniversary of the February 24, 2022, launch of the Russian operation in Ukraine.
Moscow is stepping up its actions there after the recent capture of Soledar, a town in eastern Ukraine, a first success for Russian forces in many months and a series of setbacks.
Vladimir Putin himself does not hesitate to draw a parallel between the resistance against Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, and the offensive in Ukraine.
“Our soldiers are fighting against the ethnic cleansing organized by neo-Nazis in Ukraine”
“Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies.
The proof of this is the crimes against civilians, the ethnic cleansing (and) the punitive actions organized by the neo-Nazis in Ukraine”, he thus affirmed last week, on the occasion of the international day of the victims of the 'Holocaust.
“It is against this evil that our soldiers are fighting courageously,” he added.
These statements provoked strong reactions.
The head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, described them as “appalling” and “shocking”, and an “unworthy provocation” on the day of the commemorations of the Holocaust.
In Volgograd, a city of one million people on the banks of the Volga, Wednesday and Thursday were declared non-working days.
This decision was taken “in view of the particular importance of the defeat of the Nazi forces in the Battle of Stalingrad for the final victory” in the Second World War, explained the regional administration.
On the eve of the 80th anniversary, a bust of Stalin, leader of the USSR from 1922 to 1953, was unveiled in the city, alongside those of two military leaders famous for their role in this battle, Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Vasilyevsky .
The city changes its name six times a year
Thursday, a military parade and a concert will be part of the celebrations, while flowers and wreaths will flood Mamayev Kurgan, a strategic hill which was the subject of terrible fighting, in the morning.
A gigantic memorial dominated by a giant statue of the Motherland, which was inaugurated on this hill in 1967, has for decades been a place of pilgrimage for Russians wishing to pay homage to the exploits of the Soviet army and people.
The Battle of Stalingrad, which began in July 1942, lasted 200 days and nights.
The city, transformed into fields of ruins, was the scene of devastating German aerial bombardments and street battles of extreme violence.
On February 2, 1943, the troops of German Marshal Friedrich Paulus capitulated, surrounded by the Red Army, this surrender being the first of the Nazi army since the beginning of the war.
Entirely rebuilt by order of the Soviet authorities, Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd in 1961, eight years after the death of Joseph Stalin.
Since 2013, according to a decision of local elected officials, the city has been "renamed" Stalingrad six times a year, in particular on February 2 for the anniversary of the Stalingrad victory and on May 9, the date on which Russia celebrates the victory over Nazi Germany.
