Russia has decided to change history: blame for the Katyn massacre is being sought

In this way, Russia can change its attitude to the Katyn massacre, where NKVD hitmen killed many Polish officers, writes vot-tak.tv.

The above-mentioned 2010 Russian State Duma statement admits that the NKVD is responsible for the shooting of thousands of Polish officers in the Smolensk region in 1940. in the spring However, as N. Ivanov stated, this statement “has lost any meaning and significance in the current conditions, which causes great damage to Russia’s interests and reputation.”

In the mentioned 2010 In the document, for the first time in Russian history, dictator Joseph Stalin was recognized as responsible for the massacre at such a high level. It also described the role of Soviet propaganda, which for decades translated this crime to the Nazis.

“We respect our history and where some mistakes have been made, we try to assess them objectively. And if we see that there is no such objectivity, then we need to return to it, rethink, draw conclusions”, V. Volodinas said.

Scanpix/AP Photo/Vyacheslav Volodin

A mass grave of Polish officers was discovered in the Smolensk region in 1942. March, when the territory was occupied by Nazi Germany. in 1943 in February, excavations and a German investigation began here, which was actively used in Nazi propaganda. The Soviet Union denied any accusations.

At the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Soviets also did not prove that these crimes were committed by the German military. However, this did not prevent the Soviet Union from feeding its citizens with stories that the shootings in Katyn were carried out by German occupiers for many years.

Screenshot from warsawinstitute.org/Exhumation of bodies of Katyn massacre victims

This narrative persisted until the time of Mikhail Gorbachev, when a group of Soviet historians gained access to the archives and found documents containing the data that Polish officers had been shot by NKVD hitmen.

M. Gorbachiova was informed about this and handed over the copies of the documents to Poland in 1990. The Soviet Union, which still existed, loudly regretted this tragedy, which it called one of “the grave crimes of Stalinism”.

However, both earlier in the Soviet Union and now in its successor, Russia, the events were viewed differently. Here’s to 2020 In March, “The Insider” wrote that “RIA Novosti” revived the Soviet lie about the shooting organized by the German occupiers in Katyn.

Such an “opinion” about historical events has only been strengthened in recent years after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. in 2020 In March, calls were heard in the State Duma to demolish the memorial in Katyn, and a month later, a book about the Katyn massacre was banned in Russia because it improperly portrayed the roles of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.

On the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of the start of World War II, the state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti once again invoked Soviet propaganda and called the Katyn tragedy similar to the “provocation in Bucha”.

Given the laws in force in Russia, you can get fined here for misjudging the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during World War II.

All this is accompanied by the demolition of monuments to the victims of Stalinism. Lithuanians also experienced this when the monuments to our exiles were demolished.

More – A monument to exiles from Lithuania was destroyed in Russia: it was destroyed secretly, fearing the anger of the locals.

Another monument to murdered Lithuanians was destroyed in Russia: no cross remained in the Irkutsk region.