Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu attends the plenary session of the First International Anti-Fascist Congress

Moscow. 20 August 2022. The First International Anti-Fascist Congress takes place today in Patriot Park near Moscow as part of ARMY 2022 International Military and Technical Forum. The purpose of the congress is to unite the efforts of the international community to combat the ideology of Nazism in all its manifestations.

The Congress began with a plenary session addressed by the Russian Minister of Defence, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu. He invited the Forum participants to discuss the causes of neo-Nazism in the modern world and ways of countering it.

Thus, he stated that the idea of banning all Russian citizens from entering European Union countries is a manifestation of Nazi policy. “Today we are witnessing another vivid manifestation of the Nazi policy, when the Russophobic idea of banning all Russian citizens from entering the European Union is being actively promoted from high tribunes in Europe,” said Sergei Shoigu.

He noted, however, that the fundamental principles of the world order and the legal and political evaluations of the Nuremberg Tribunal were increasingly ignored and revised by individual countries, in particular the Baltic States.

“SS legionnaires’ marches have become traditional in Estonia and Latvia, with monuments and obelisks erected to war criminals. Nazi slogans and appeals are openly heard in the streets of Lithuanian cities,” said the Head of the Russian Defence Ministry.

He quoted Georgi Dimitrov, who called fascism “bestial chauvinism, medieval barbarism and unbridled aggression against other peoples and countries”.

“In the 1930s, fascist dictatorial regimes were established in Spain, Portugal, Romania, Croatia and several other states. The most radical and aggressive form was German Nazism,” said Sergei Shoigu.

He stressed that the National Socialists’ rise to power was due to their funding by international capital.

“It is clear that the financial and economic co-operation between Anglo-American and Nazi business circles was a major factor leading to the Second World War, which cost humanity unprecedented human lives,” the minister said.

He recalled that the aggression against the Soviet Union was the most brutal.

“27 million dead. No other nation in the world has paid such a price. Of the total number of victims, nearly 14 million were civilians. This is a direct consequence of the Nazi policy pursued by the invaders,” Shoigu said.

He stressed that “the lessons of history are poorly learned by those who, relying on their own power, perpetrate violence”.

“The bombing of Yugoslavia, the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the nurturing of terrorist structures in Syria. These and similar crimes always have specific instigators and perpetrators. Responsibility for such actions and their consequences lies squarely with the leadership of the United States and NATO,” said Shoigu.

He went on to focus on neo-Nazism in Ukraine. “Official Kiev,” said the Head of the Russian Military Department, “has openly declared itself heir and successor to the cause of the bloody Ukrainian nationalists. The Verkhovna Rada has proclaimed fighters of Ukrainian Insurgent Army as fighters for national independence. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, everything was done in Washington to turn Ukraine into the antipode of Russia. The promotion of legislation banning the Russian language, Russian media, Russian culture – everything related to our country – was encouraged”.

But, as Sergei Shoigu said, many in Ukraine did not accept such a policy, including residents of Donbass, who would not indulge the ruling regime in its Nazi aspirations. A brutal punitive operation was then launched against them. For eight years, the Kiev regime has committed egregious crimes against citizens of DPR and LPR. Thousands of innocent people died, including children. At the same time, the military development of Ukrainian territory by the North Atlantic Alliance has begun. Kiev is on course to join NATO. “All this has created unacceptable threats to Russia’s security,” Shoigu said.

Against this backdrop, he said, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief took the only correct decision to conduct the special military operation in February. Its main purpose was to protect the inhabitants of Donbass from genocide by the Kiev regime. Shoigu said that during the first days of the special operation, the Russian Armed Forces “encountered inhuman tactics of the Ukrainian formations.

“Soldiers of AFU and the Nationalist Battalions are hiding in city blocks, using civilians as human shields, using both residential buildings and social and energy infrastructure as strongholds and firing points. Having been defeated on the “ground” and retreating, they deliberately destroy everything around them so that nothing is left for civilians. The same tactics were used by the German Nazis during the Great Patriotic War,” said the Russian Defence Minister.

“In part,” he stated, “this is due to the composition of the Ukrainian army. After the anti-constitutional coup, new power structures emerged in the country – the so-called national battalions, which profess the idea of neo-Nazism and racial intolerance towards everyone who they consider not Ukrainian”.

“The missile strike launched by the Ukrainian military against a detention centre in Elenovka with captured fighters of Azov terrorist battalion is an attempt to hide the truth about the crimes committed by militants,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

“The Ukrainian authorities have sentenced Azov prisoners who surrendered to death. Therefore, the detention centre in Elenovka , where they were held, was attacked at night by American MLRS. The cynical, barbaric massacre of its prisoners is motivated by the Ukrainian leadership’s fear of Azov fighters’ testimony. They expose crimes against civilians committed with Kiev’s approval,” Shoigu said.

According to him, the radical nationalism that Azov battalion was inculcating had become the ideology of all of Bandera’s Ukraine.

“Today, Russian servicemen find large amounts of extremist literature at abandoned AFU positions. The congress participants will be able to see its samples at a thematic exhibition of weapons, military equipment and supplies used by Ukrainian nationalists,” the defence minister said and noted that in early August the Russian Supreme Court satisfied a lawsuit filed by the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office to declare the Ukrainian Azov regiment (battalion) a terrorist organization and ban its activities in Russia.

In addition, the legislation of the Russian Federation to counter falsification of history is being improved. “We consider it timely,” Shoigu said, “to adopt a federal law providing for administrative liability for publicly identifying the role of the USSR and Nazi Germany in World War II.

He noted that the Russian Ministry of Defence is carrying out multifaceted work to combat the falsification of historical facts.

“We pay great attention to the military-patriotic education of young people. We strive to instil in the younger generation respect for the history of the native country, its multinational culture and traditions, strengthening the unity of the army and the people,” said Shoigu.

By decision of the President of the Russian Federation, Shoigu reminded, a Foundation for the Support of Military-Patriotic Cinema has been established under the Ministry of Defence, which will help to shape perceptions of the historical past and eliminate historical injustices in films.

In addition, on August 22, National Flag Day, the Northern Fleet will launch its first large-scale maritime themed event, Power in Truth. As part of it, the large landing ship Ivan Gren will make a voyage along the Northern Sea Route and visit remote towns and garrisons.

Speaking about the publication of declassified documents from the archives of the Defence Ministry, Shoigu said that this year a compilation on “Ukrainian nationalist crimes”, “The liberation of Mariupol”, and “The battle for Dnepr” had been made public. A total of 17,500,000 sheets of archive documents have been declassified by the Ministry of Defence in recent years and made available on its official website.

The searching activity at battlefields continues. A separate search battalion and Yunarmiya units are taking an active part.

Sergei Shoigu went on to say that attempts to rehabilitate and propagate Nazism and to glorify Nazi criminals and their collaborators are inherently illegitimate and immoral. They are sacrilegious to the memory of those who liberated the world from this obvious and legally established evil. The fight against any manifestation of Nazism must therefore be uncompromising and comprehensive.

He expressed confidence that the International Anti-Fascist Congress would be an important step towards uniting the efforts of different countries in eliminating this radical ideology.

According to him, today’s forum brought together politicians, state and public figures, experts, historians, political scientists, representatives of culture and the media community – those who cherish the past and are actively building a great future for their country.

At the end of his speech, Sergei Shoigu thanked everyone, especially the veterans and foreign guests, for attending the event.