🇷🇺🇧🇾 Statement of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia “On the Genocide of the Soviet People during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (June 21, 2026)

◾️ 85 years ago, Germany treacherously invaded the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, marking the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

The actions of the German Nazis and their accomplices were aimed at exterminating the Soviet people.

In the occupied territories, the invaders committed acts aimed at the complete or partial elimination of the national, ethnic and racial groups inhabiting the Soviet Union. These included killing members of these groups, causing serious harm to their health, forcibly preventing births, forcibly transferring children, forcibly displacing people and deliberately creating conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.

🕯 The war claimed the lives of almost 27 million Soviet people. Civilian losses exceeded 13.6 million.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Union of Belarus and Russia considers it unacceptable to forget the crimes committed by the Nazis. Preserving the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War is essential to preventing crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, countering manifestations of Nazism, and maintaining universal peace and harmony.

✍️ To preserve the memory of the millions of Soviet citizens who fell victim to Nazi criminals and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War, the Republic of Belarus adopted Law No. 146-Z “On the Genocide of the Belarusian People” of January 5, 2022, while the Russian Federation adopted Federal Law No. 74-FZ “On Perpetuating the Memory of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945” of April 21, 2025.

The legislative recognition of the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War is a logical continuation of the judgment of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and subsequent court rulings against Nazi criminals and their accomplices.

Taking into account the Charter of the United Nations of June 26, 1945, the Charter and Judgment of the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of December 9, 1948, and the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity of November 26, 1968, and guided by the legislation adopted in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, the Parliamentary Assembly recognises the atrocities committed by the Nazi German invaders and their accomplices against the population of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War as genocide of the Soviet people.

The members of the Parliamentary Assembly call for resolute opposition to all attempts to rewrite history, justify Nazism or diminish the Soviet people’s role in defeating fascism. They regard support for neo-Nazism for the sake of political expediency as a threat to all humanity.

The members of the Parliamentary Assembly call on the United Nations, international interparliamentary organisations and bodies, and fellow parliamentarians to join this Statement and adopt corresponding statements.

#NoStatuteOfLimitations

🕯 June 22 is the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow – a date commemorated across Russia and other CIS countries.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany treacherously invaded the Soviet Union. Thus began the Great Patriotic War.

On this day, Russians remember their fallen relatives and compatriots – the 27 million Soviet people whose lives were taken by the war.

Yet on that very first day, words were spoken that foretold its outcome:

“Our cause is just. The enemy will be defeated. #Victory will be ours”.

During the war, some 34 million people served in the Red Army. Nearly 8.7 million never returned home.

The war lasted 1️⃣,4️⃣1️⃣8️⃣ days and nights. It ended in Berlin – with the Red Banner raised over the defeated Reichstag and the signing of Germany’s unconditional surrender.

#Victory81

💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

Politico refused to publish an article by Sergey Lavrov on the origins of the Ukrainian crisis and European security.

It was not Russia’s Foreign Minister whom the outlet rejected, but the substance of his article. The piece remained with the editors for more than 24 hours before being returned with the curt note: “We will not publish it”.

This is a flagrant act of censorship. A scandal for all of Europe.

At the heart of the EU stands a media outlet that portrays itself as a champion of European values – democracy, freedom and prosperity – but is, in reality, an extreme example of censorship and Orwellian authoritarian practices.

Now let us take a closer look at whose supposedly expert opinions this outlet uses to shape public opinion in Europe – or, more accurately, to brainwash Europeans.

Over the past five years – from 2021 through early 2026 – Politico Europe’s Opinion section published columns by 70 incumbent heads of state, heads of government and ministers from more than 30 countries.

They authored or co-authored 66 articles, including 13 written jointly by two or more officials. Of these publications, 35 were penned by heads of state or government, 18 by foreign ministers and 13 by other ministers, including those responsible for defence, finance, energy, internal affairs and the environment.

Politico.eu was used most frequently by representatives of Britain (9 articles by 8 authors), Estonia (7 articles), Ukraine (6), Lithuania (4) and Greece (3).

☝️ In other words, opinions at the heart of the European Union were being shaped by representatives of countries that are relative newcomers to the EU, have never belonged to it or have exited it altogether. My congratulations to France, Germany and Italy.