Soviet Union

...now browsing by category

 

Russia slams Strasbourg court for seeking to revise WWII results (Update)

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

“Russia on Monday accused the European Court of Human Rights of going along with people who seek to rehabilitate Nazis by upholding Latvia’s appeal in the case of a Soviet World War II veteran.
Vasily Kononov, 87, who led a group of resistance fighters against Nazi Germany in the Baltic state during World War II, was jailed by Latvia in 1998 after he was convicted of ordering the killing of nine villagers in 1944. He admitted to the killings, but said the dead were Nazi collaborators who were caught in crossfire.
Earlier on Monday, the upper chamber of the European Court of Human Rights upheld the appeal by Latvia against the court’s 2008 ruling that the conviction of Kononov was illegal.”

source – RIA Novosti

LINK – full article

Posted in Latvia, Restoration, Soviet Union, Vets | View Comments

Soviet people won WWII, not Stalin – Medvedev

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

“The defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II was down to the Soviet people not dictator Joseph Stalin, whose crimes against the nation cannot be justified, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview broadcast on Friday.
Russia marks the 65th anniversary of victory in Europe on Sunday, and the official view of Stalin’s role has been controversial. Russia describes its military efforts in 1941-45 as the Great Patriotic War.”

LINK – Read the full article here

Source – RIA Novosti

Posted in Allied, Soviet Union | View Comments

Russia to facilitate Polish commemorations of Katyn massacre

Monday, January 25th, 2010
Katyn massacre

Katyn massacre - © RIA Novosti

Reported by RIA NOVOSTI. The painful memories of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war by the Soviet Union may be finally be nearing a time when there is reconciliation between the one time Alllies of World War II . “Russia is ready to help Poland organize events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre of Polish prisoners of war by the Soviet Union, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Lavrov said Polish colleagues have informed Moscow of their plans for this year’s commemoration of the 1940 execution of several thousand of Polish POWs, mainly officers and soldiers, in Katyn, western Russia, which has remained a sensitive issue in ties between Poland and Russia.”

FULL article – LINK

Posted in Poland, Soviet Union | View Comments

Controversy over Ukrainian underground

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Petro Kasinchuk, who was a member of the Ukrainian underground, receives a flower from a supporter during a rally in 2006 in Kiev calling for official recognition of the fighters as World War II veterans. (Efrem Lukatsky/associated Press)

The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA fought for independence for the Ukraine throughout World War II and beyond. During the German occupation it was aligned with Nazi Germany in its struggle for independence. Today the movement to pay tribute to those who fought for independence is marred with controversy over its involvement in ethnic cleaning and it alignment with Nazi Germany.

LINK - In Ukraine, movement to honor members of WWII underground sets off debate – The Washington Post January 6, 2010

Posted in Germany, Soviet Union | View Comments

Germans and Poles come together over WWII mass grave

Monday, August 10th, 2009

An undated reproduction of a 1945 phoAn undated reproduction of a pre 1939 post card showing the town of Malbork. Remains of over 2,100 people including women and children believed to be German civilians buried at the end of World War II, were found in Malbork. (AP Photo) (AP)

An undated reproduction of a pre 1939 post card showing the town of Malbork. Remains of over 2,100 people including women and children believed to be German civilians buried at the end of World War II, were found in Malbork. (AP Photo) (AP)

MALBORK, Poland — Germans and Poles held a ceremony on Friday 7th August 2009 to rebury remains found in a mass grave in the town of Malbrok.

“uncertainties about who the dead were and who killed them may never be resolved. All that authorities can say with some assuredness is that they were probably German civilians who died in the ferocious final months of the war,”

via Mass WWII grave brings Poles, Germans together

Posted in Germany, Poland, Soviet Union, Uncategorized | View Comments
Tags: , ,

U.S. Navy to help Estonia solve WWII mystery of Finnish airliner, missing American courier

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

U.S. Navy to help Estonia solve WWII mystery of Finnish airliner, missing American courier

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) – U.S. naval experts expressed confidence Thursday that they could locate the wreckage of a Finnish airliner that crashed into the Baltic Sea in June 1940 just days before the Soviet Union annexed Estonia. Nine people were on board the aircraft when it disappeared, including a U.S. diplomatic courier now regarded as one of the first American casualties of World War II.

[LINK]

Posted in Estonia, Soviet Union, USA | View Comments
Tags: