Latest news with #BattleoftheSeelowHeights
Local Germany
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
Germany snubs Russian and Belarusian envoys at World War II memorial
The event at the Reichstag on May 8th comes amid tensions among former wartime allies over the war in Ukraine. "The decision (was taken) not to invite the ambassadors of Russia and Belarus, among others," a parliament spokeswoman told AFP. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will give a speech and young people will read from accounts of the war's end written by contemporaries. The organisers had "deliberately avoided" an international focus and no guests based abroad would be invited, the spokeswoman said. The German foreign ministry had on Wednesday warned against inviting representatives from Russia and Belarus. While Russia's role in the end of World War II should be "honoured", there was a risk that commemorations could be "exploited and misused to justify (Russia's) war of aggression against Ukraine," a spokesman for the ministry said. The advice came as a row broke out over the Russian ambassador being invited to a commemorative event on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the final assaults of the war. Ukrainian ambassador Oleksii Makeiev said it was "inappropriate" that "a representative of a criminal regime that attacks my country every day with missiles, bombs and drones" was taking part. Advertisement The participation of the Russian ambassador in the event in Brandenburg, near Berlin, was "a sign of how the Russians are exploiting World War II for their own ends", Makeiev said. Germany has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022 and has been the second-biggest provider of military aid to Kyiv after the United States. But Berlin has been forced to take a back seat in negotiations to end the war pushed by US President Donald Trump as it has been in political limbo since an election in February. Friedrich Merz, whose conservative CDU/CSU alliance won the vote, is due to be sworn in as chancellor on May 6th, just two days before the World War II commemorations.
NBC News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Germany warns its towns against letting Russia war memorials for its own propaganda
The German government on Wednesday warned against Russian efforts to 'instrumentalize' events marking the 80th anniversary of World War Two after the Russian ambassador to Berlin attended a local event in the eastern town of Seelow. The commemoration marked the Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the final battles in the war before the Soviet army's march on Berlin and Germany's capitulation in May 1945. At least 30,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in one of the hardest fought battles for Russia's troops. Russian ambassador Sergey Nechayev laid a flower at the monument to the battle. Military attaches from the embassies of Belarus and Kazakhstan, whose nationals fought in the Soviet army, also laid flowers at the site in Seelow. Earlier this year, Germany's Foreign Office issued guidance to be cautious of Russian attempts to use 80th anniversary events for propaganda purposes. It recommended municipalities to make use of their 'host rights' not to invite Russian state representatives to commemorations. 'We can expect the Russian side to instrumentalize it to justify the attack on Ukrain e,' a spokesperson for the ministry told a regular news conference on Wednesday. 'That's why the Foreign Office made a recommendation of that nature.' Russian President Vladimir Putin initially portrayed his invasion of Ukraine as needed to deal with 'Nazis' seeking to use the legacy of World War Two to justify the attack. 'It's inappropriate for a representative of a criminal regime that is attacking my country with missiles, bombs and drones every day to be present at a commemoration of war victims,' Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev told Welt TV. The Soviet Union lost more than 25 million lives in what it calls the Great Patriotic War and Moscow marks the victory with a massive annual military parade in Red Square. Russia's state RIA news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Wednesday that German Foreign Ministry guidance suggesting representatives of Russia and Belarus could be expelled from anniversary events as an insult by forces she called 'the ideological heirs and direct descendants of Hitler's executioner s.' The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Russian domestic TV was present at the commemoration, which was otherwise attended by a small crowd of locals. Deputy administrator of the Maerkisch-Oderland district, Friedrich Hanke, told broadcaster RBB in advance that it would be 'absurd' to stop the ambassador from commemorating his compatriots. 'We will treat him with the appropriate respect,' he said.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Row over Russian envoy overshadows German WW2 commemoration
By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government on Wednesday warned against Russian efforts to "instrumentalise" events marking the 80th anniversary of World War Two after the Russian ambassador to Berlin attended a local event in the eastern town of Seelow. The commemoration marked the Battle of the Seelow Heights, one of the final battles in the war before the Soviet army's march on Berlin and Germany's capitulation in May 1945. At least 30,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in one of the hardest fought battles for Russia's troops. Russian ambassador Sergey Nechayev laid a flower at the monument to the battle. Military attaches from the embassies of Belarus and Kazakhstan, whose nationals fought in the Soviet army, also laid flowers at the site in Seelow. Earlier this year, Germany's Foreign Office issued guidance to be cautious of Russian attempts to use 80th anniversary events for propaganda purposes. It recommended municipalities to make use of their "host rights" not to invite Russian state representatives to commemorations. "We can expect the Russian side to instrumentalise it to justify the attack on Ukraine," a spokesperson for the ministry told a regular news conference on Wednesday. "That's why the Foreign Office made a recommendation of that nature." Russian President Vladimir Putin initially portrayed his invasion of Ukraine as needed to deal with "Nazis", seeking to use the legacy of World War Two to justify the attack. "It's inappropriate for a representative of a criminal regime that is attacking my country with missiles, bombs and drones every day to be present at a commemoration of war victims," Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev told Welt TV. The Soviet Union lost more than 25 million lives in what it calls the Great Patriotic War and Moscow marks the victory with a massive annual military parade in Red Square. Russia's state RIA news agency cited Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Wednesday that German Foreign Ministry guidance suggesting representatives of Russia and Belarus could be expelled from anniversary events as an insult by forces she called "the ideological heirs and direct descendants of Hitler's executioners". The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Russian domestic TV was present at the commemoration, which was otherwise attended by a small crowd of locals. Deputy administrator of the Maerkisch-Oderland district, Friedrich Hanke, told broadcaster RBB in advance that it would be "absurd" to stop the ambassador from commemorating his compatriots. "We will treat him with the appropriate respect," he said.
