Putin names regional Russian airport Stalingrad
'In order to perpetuate the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, I hereby decree … to assign the historical name 'Stalingrad' to Volgograd International Airport,' the decree published on the Kremlin's website said.
World War Two, in which around 22-25 million Soviet citizens are estimated to have died, is known in Russia as The Great Patriotic War. For many Russians, Stalingrad conjures memories both of the war's sacrifice and the murderous rule of dictator Josef Stalin.
Putin has often compared his invasion of Ukraine to the fight against Nazis, presenting the war to Russians as a 'special military operation' to 'demilitarize' and 'denazify' Ukraine.
Ukraine – which was part of the Soviet Union and itself suffered devastation at the hands of Adolf Hitler's forces – rejects those parallels as spurious pretexts for a war of imperial conquest.
In a fiery 2023 speech in Volgograd marking the 80th anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad, Putin lambasted Germany for helping to arm Ukraine and reiterated that he was ready to draw on Russia's entire arsenal, which includes nuclear weapons.
Stalingrad, which was renamed Volgograd in 1961, was the bloodiest battle of the war, when the Soviet Red Army, at a cost of over 1 million casualties, broke the back of German invasion forces in 1942-43.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
6 hours ago
- Daily Maverick
Polish conservative Nawrocki leads presidential vote
By Marek Strzelecki and Anna Koper A late exit poll by Ipsos for broadcasters TVN, TVP and Polsat showed Nawrocki at 51% and his rival, liberal Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, at 49%. Readings published just after voting ended had Nawrocki losing at 49.7% to 50.3%. Official results were due on Monday. Nawrocki, 42, an amateur boxer who ran a national remembrance institute, campaigned on a promise to ensure government economic and social policies favour Poles over other nations, including refugees from neighbouring Ukraine. While Poland's parliament holds most power, the president can veto legislation, and the vote was being watched closely in Ukraine as well as Russia, the United States and across the European Union. Both candidates agreed on the need to spend heavily on defence as Trump, the U.S. president, is demanding from Europe and to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia's three-year-old invasion. Poland is a member of the 32-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization security alliance. But while Trzaskowski sees Ukraine's future membership of NATO as essential for Poland's security, Nawrocki said recently that if he were president he would not ratify it because of the danger of the alliance being drawn into war with Moscow. Russia has demanded that NATO not enlarge eastward to include Ukraine and other former Soviet republics as a condition of a peace deal with Kyiv, sources have said. Nawrocki has presented the ballot as a referendum on the broad coalition government of pro-Europe Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the leader of the Civic Coalition (KO) party who took office about 18 months ago. 'This will be a good counterweight to the government,' said Mateusz Morawiecki, who was prime minister in the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government that lost power in 2023. Although technically an independent, Nawrocki was backed by PiS in the election. Trzaskowski, 53, had promised to help Tusk complete his government's democratic reforms, which they both say aim to repair an erosion of checks and balances under the former PiS government. Trzaskowski's campaign initially proclaimed victory on Sunday and did not immediately comment after poll readings showed a move in Nawrocki's favour. TUMULTUOUS CAMPAIGN The first round of the election on May 18 saw a surge in support for the anti-establishment far-right, suggesting that the KO-PiS duopoly that has dominated Polish politics for a generation may be starting to fracture. Nevertheless, after a tumultuous campaign in which Nawrocki in particular faced a slew of negative media reports about his alleged past conduct, once again candidates representing the two main parties faced off in the second round. Nawrocki dismissed accusations of wrongdoing in his acquisition of a flat from a pensioner and participation in mass organised fights among football hooligans. Social issues were also at stake in the election. Trzaskowski has said he wanted to see Poland's near total ban on abortion eased, something that outgoing nationalist President Andrzej Duda strongly opposed. A win by Nawrocki will likely mean that Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico gain an ally in central Europe. His victory could lend momentum to the Czech Republic's eurosceptic opposition leader and former Prime Minister Andrej Babis who leads opinion polls ahead of an October election. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem spoke in Nawrocki's favour in May, telling a conservative gathering in Poland that he 'needs to be the next president.'
eNCA
3 days ago
- eNCA
Turkey proposes to host Trump-Putin-Zelensky summit
Turkey on Friday proposed hosting a summit with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and the United States as it strives to broker an elusive deal to end Russia's three-year invasion an invitation swiftly dismissed by the Kremlin. Moscow said it was sending a team of negotiators to Istanbul for a second round of direct talks with Ukraine on Monday though Kyiv has yet to confirm if it will attend. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has fostered warm relations with both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, has become a key mediator amid Donald Trump's push for a deal to end the over three-year war. "We sincerely think that it is possible to cap the first and second direct Istanbul talks with a meeting between Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky, under the direction of Mr. Erdogan," Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Kyiv. The Kremlin pushed back against the idea of a face-to-face meeting involving Putin and Zelensky. "First, results must be achieved through direct negotiations between the two countries," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Fidan met Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga in Kyiv and was due to meet Zelensky later in the day. He held talks with Putin in Moscow earlier this week. Ukraine has said it is open to further negotiations, but has not confirmed it will be in Istanbul on Monday. At talks in Istanbul on May 16 the first in over three years the sides agree to swap documents outlining possible roadmaps to peace. The Kremlin repeated Friday that it would hand over its version at the talks on Monday, but Kyiv is pressuring Moscow to send a copy in advance. - 'Disregard for diplomacy' - Ukraine has for more than two months been urging Russia to agree to a full, unconditional and immediate 30-day ceasefire an idea first proposed by Trump. Putin has repeatedly rejected those calls, despite pressure from Washington and Europe, while the Russian army has intensified its advances in eastern Ukraine. He has said that a ceasefire is possible as a result of negotiations, but that talks should focus on the "root causes" of the war. Moscow typically uses that language to refer to a mix of sweeping demands that have at times included limiting Ukraine's military, banning it from joining NATO, massive territorial concessions and the toppling of Zelensky. Kyiv and the West have rejected those calls and cast Russia's assault as nothing but an imperial-style land grab. Russia's invasion in February 2022 triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II. Tens of thousands have been killed, swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed and millions forced to flee their homes. Trump has been growing increasingly frustrated at both Zelensky and Putin for not having struck a deal yet. AFP | SERGEY BOBOK At a UN Security Council meeting Thursday a US diplomat reaffirmed that Washington could pull back from peace efforts if it does not see progress soon. Despite the sides having held their first peace talks in more than three years, there has been little sign of movement towards a possible compromise agreement. At the talks earlier in May, Ukraine said Russia threatened to accelerate its ground offensive into new regions and made a host of maximalist demands, including that Kyiv cede territory still under its control. Along with its European allies, Ukraine has been ramping up pressure on Trump to hit Moscow with fresh sanctions a step he has so far not taken. "Talks of pauses in pressure or easing of sanctions are perceived in Moscow as a political victory and only encourage further attacks and continued disregard for diplomacy," Zelensky said Friday on social media. Russia has meanwhile been pressing its advance on the battlefield, with its forces on Friday claiming to have captured another village in the northeastern Kharkiv region. By Sergii Volskyi And Victoria Lukovenko
TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Many Ukrainians balk at conceding land to Russia, entangling nascent peace process
Mariupol natives Oleksandr and Liudmyla Lytvyn fled home three years ago during Russia's 86-day siege of the port city in southern Ukraine. Now they are following peace talks between the warring countries anxiously, fearing they may never return. Mariupol, home to more than 400,000 people before the full-scale invasion, was seized by Russian forces in May 2022 when the city's last defenders were ordered to surrender, ending one of the bloodiest chapters of the war. 'We lived our entire life in Mariupol. I believe until the very last that it will be Ukrainian. I do not know how,' Liudmyla, 65, a retired teacher, told Reuters. Her longing to see occupied land back under Ukrainian control is widely shared, presenting a challenge to President Volodymyr Zelensky as he comes under pressure to consider territorial concessions under any peace agreement with Russia. Ukraine has given no indication it is willing to do so, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has pushed Kyiv to cede not only occupied territory but also land not controlled by Moscow, while the US has said loss of land seems inevitable. More than three years into its full-scale invasion, Russia controls nearly one fifth of Ukraine and its troops are making incremental but steady gains in the east. Zelensky himself has acknowledged that Ukraine cannot recapture all of its lost territory through military force, but wants to settle the issue through diplomacy. Oleksandr, 65, said the issue of what Ukraine may have to give up in return for peace depends not only on Kyiv. 'The issue here is whether there are any limits on weapons,' he said, referring to doubts over whether the US will continue military support for Ukraine now that Donald Trump is in the White House and moving closer to Russia. 'It depends not only on Zelensky but also on other matters, weapons in particular,' Oleksandr added, sitting next to his wife in a dormitory in the central city of Dnipro where they have moved temporarily. Without US military backing, Ukraine's position in negotiations would be significantly weakened. RARE DIRECT TALKS This month Kyiv and Moscow held their first direct talks since 2022, yielding little progress on ending the war. After a subsequent phone call between Trump and Putin, the US president appeared to withdraw from efforts to mediate peace, leaving Ukraine exposed against a larger enemy. For displaced residents of Mariupol — the largest Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians since 2022 — that raises concerns not only about territorial concessions but also over whether justice will be served. Vadym Boichenko, Mariupol's mayor-in-exile, said his team gathered evidence showing at least 22,000 civilians were killed in nearly three months of fighting that reduced a city once famous for its vibrant port and giant steel plants to rubble. Human Rights Watch, along with Truth Hounds and SITU Research, estimated 8,000 people died from fighting or war-related causes, though it could not establish how many were civilians and said the true count may be significantly higher. Reuters could not independently verify estimates of the death toll. Russia pounded Mariupol with artillery, rockets and missiles and cut off access to electricity, heating, fresh water, food and medical supplies — creating a humanitarian catastrophe, Boichenko added. 'All we ask for is recognition (of the alleged crimes) and punishment,' Boichenko said in Kyiv in one of the 'IMariupol' centres set up in 22 cities across Ukraine to help displaced residents with basic needs. Russia's defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment on this article. Russia says it liberated the city from Ukrainian 'neo-Nazis', using one of the main justifications for its invasion that Kyiv and its allies dismiss as absurd. Moscow-installed authorities have overseen a major reconstruction programme in Mariupol, and hold it up as a symbol of the benefits of Russia's annexation of four Ukrainian regions as well as the Crimean peninsula. Russia blames Ukraine's armed forces for the city's destruction, alleging they used the local population as human shields. Ukraine rejects that accusation. SWEEPING DEMANDS Moscow has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its troops from four Ukrainian regions where fighting is raging, even though it does not control all of them. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians — 82% — reject those demands, according to an opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted in May. Slightly more than half of the population — 51% — would support a compromise with a de facto recognition of currently occupied territories in exchange for robust security guarantees from Europe and the US, even though the latter has indicated it would not provide them. But about 40% considered this unacceptable, raising questions over how Ukraine and Russia can break the deadlock in a nascent peace process. 'It is not fair to leave them what they took away. It is our land,' said Dmytro, 35, who had settled in Mariupol after being forced to leave the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk in 2015. Dmytro, now also based in Dnipro but concerned he might have to flee again, declined to give his last name as his mother and grandmother still live in the occupied Donetsk region. 'What we lived through in Mariupol is horror,' he said, recollecting how he shielded his son, now 10, from bombardment and cooked food on open fires in the streets. He fled Mariupol in March 2022.
