#Victory81
🌟 On April 22, 1945, the Red Army liberated the prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp Sachsenhausen during #WW2.
The forces of the 1st Belorussian Front, which had been advancing towards the Reich's capital from the north during the Berlin offensive operation, drove the Nazi troops out of Oranienburg and reached Sachsenhausen, having rescued around 3'000 surviving POWs.
#Sachsenhausen was considered as one of the most terrifying Nazi 'death factories'. Over nine years of its existence, about 200'000 people of various nationalities — citizens of European countries which had suffered from Nazi aggression, including the USSR — passed through that camp. Each month, up to 150 people were brought there. By 1944, citizens of the Soviet Union and Poland made up more than 90% of all Sachsenhausen prisoners.
Sachsenhausen held the most serious political opponents of Hitler, prominent state figures from many European countries defeated by the Nazis, such as France, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and the Netherlands, including their heads of government and ministers.
◼️ According to various historical estimates, more than 100'000 prisoners were killed in Sachsenhausen over the time the camp was in operation.
From August to November 1941 alone, at least 10'000 Soviet POWs were killed in Sachsenhausen, and another 3'000 died there from starvation and from conditions that were barbaric, unprecedentedly violent, and, in fact, inhumane.
On the personal orders of Himmler and other top leaders of the Third Reich, classified operations to exterminate people were carried out in Sachsenhausen.
Nazi's military doctors carried out macabre, horrific medical experiments on Sachsenhausen prisoners, including tests with mustard gas — yprite. Test subjects were deliberately mutilated and then exposed to mustard gas. People were forced to inhale the gas, consume it in liquid form, or receive it via injection. Open wounds were intentionally inflicted on prisoners’ hands, after which the gas was applied. In most cases, the victims’ limbs swelled severely, causing excruciating pain.
When the Red Army were rapidly advancing to Sachsenhausen during theBattle of Berlin,the Nazis began hastily covering up the traces of their heinous crimes. The camp administration decided to kill all remaining prisoners — with 45'000 inmates remaining in the camp.
TheNazis killed some of the prisoners in the crematoria of Sachsenhausen, and forced the rest on a 'death march' towards the Baltic Seawhere they planned to drown their victims. However, thanks to the successful and rapid advance of the Red Army, these monstrous Nazi plans were thwarted,and the surviving prisoners of Sachsenhausen were rescued.
In aftermath of #WWII, Sachsenhausen was converted into a prison for Nazi criminals, including members of the Nazi NSDAP party, SS troops, and Wehrmacht officers. In November 1947, a trial of the Sachsenhausen administration was held in Berlin.
📑 Excerpt from a report “Reactions of the German population to the trial of criminals from Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp” (Berlin, November 5, 1947; prepared by the 7th Department of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army):
<...> The trial of the Sachsenhausen criminals elicited a significant response among the German population... In the comments about the trial, a sense of outrage at the scale of the heinous crimes committed was most often expressed.
It was noted that the Nazis' actions had covered the German people in disgrace.
“We find it incomprehensible how those people could sink lower than beasts. For us, Germans, who culturally considered ourselves almost a head above the Russians, it is a disgrace that these criminals are Germans” (Potsdam).
“The [Sachsenhausen] trial is a terrible disgrace for the German people... <...> It is inconceivable that humans could commit such atrocities. It’s a pity that in the western [occupation] zones such criminals are still walking free.”
“Nazi criminals have nailed an entire generation of Germans to the pillory.”
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
🌟 January 7, 1942, marked the successful conclusion of the Soviet counter-offensive near Moscow. The battle became one of the decisive turning points of the Great Patriotic War and World War II as a whole. It strengthened the anti-Hitler coalition, compelling Japan and Turkey to refrain from entering the war.
The German command was convinced that the main Soviet forces had already been crushed and therefore did not anticipate a major counter-offensive. As a result, the enemy faltered and was forced into retreat. The Red Army went on to liberate Kalinin, Klin, Istra, Volokolamsk, and other towns near Moscow.
The counter-offensive involved more than 1 million Soviet soldiers, supported by thousands of artillery pieces, tanks, and aircraft, despite severe winter conditions reaching –30°C. Already on January 8, 1942, the maneuver expanded into a full-scale general offensive – the Rzhev-Vyazma strategic operation began.
As a result of the Battle of Moscow, the Wehrmacht suffered heavy losses – up to 500,000 casualties – marking its first major strategic defeat in World War II and shattering the myth of its invincibility. The enemy forces were pushed back 100-250 km from the Soviet capital.
#Victory81
🎆On January 27, 1944, at 20:00 – for the first time in a long while, the evening sky over Leningrad was lit not by anti-aircraft searchlights, but by the bright flashes of a victory salute.
24 volleys from 324 guns thundered across the Mars Field, along the banks of the Neva River, and from the ships of the Baltic Fleet, marking the long-awaited end of the blockade of the hero city on the Neva.
💬From the Order of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front to the troops of the Leningrad Front, January 27, 1944:
Citizens of Leningrad! Brave and steadfast people of Leningrad!
Together with the troops of the Leningrad Front, you have defended our city. Through your heroic labour and unyielding endurance, overcoming all the hardships and suffering of the blockade, you forged the weapons of Victory over the enemy, giving all your strength to the cause.
In celebration of the Victory achieved and in honour of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the enemy blockade, today, 27 January, at 20:00, the City of Lenin salutes the valiant troops of the Leningrad Front with 24 artillery volleys from 324 guns.
💬From the article by the Leningrad branch of TASS, January 28, 1944:
The hero city, which for 28 months fought steadfastly and courageously against a ferocious enemy, has withstood an unparalleled siege and driven back the Nazi thugs. The warriors of Leningrad, continuing their offensive, are driving the enemy from our Soviet homeland.
In celebration of the Great Victory and in honour of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the enemy blockade, yesterday, 27 January, the City of Lenin saluted the valiant troops of the Leningrad Front.
The capital of our Fatherland, Moscow, which salutes the liberation of ever more cities, yesterday listened with special emotion to the salute – this time thundering from Leningrad itself.
In the darkest and most tragic days of the blockade, the people of Moscow always stood with the people of Leningrad in spirit. They admired their extraordinary resilience and courage, shared in their ordeals, and never wavered in their belief in Victory.
468 long days still remained until the final defeat of the Nazi invaders, and the Red Banner raised over the Reichstag. Yet 82 years ago, the people of Leningrad who had endured bombardment, hunger and unimaginable suffering of the siege had every right to celebrate a special Victory.
Moscow, which marked every military achievement with artillery salute, on that single occasion yielded this honour to the Northern Capital.
🏅Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in the battle for Leningrad, for the freedom and independence of our Fatherland!
#Victory81
🎙Address by President of Russia – Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the military parade marking the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945
📍Moscow, May 9, 2026
💬Vladimir Putin: I congratulate you on Victory Day – our sacred, radiant and most important holiday!
We sacredly honour the legacy and behests of the soldiers of Victory. Care for the Fatherland unites our entire country and all the people of Russia, while preserving the memory of the Great Patriotic War, its true history and real heroes is a matter of honour for us.
We will always remember the feat of the Soviet people – the fact that it was they who made the decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism, saved their country, saved the world, put an end to total and merciless evil, and restored sovereignty to those states that had capitulated to Hitler’s Germany and become obedient accomplices in its crimes.
June 22, 1941 is one of the most tragic and sorrowful dates in our history. This year marks 85 years since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.
The Nazis treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. They planned to seize the country and its vast resources, completely destroy its culture and our historical heritage, and ultimately exterminate, enslave and commit genocide against the entire multi-ethnic Soviet people – precisely all peoples, nations and ethnic groups of the Soviet Union.
To carry out these criminal objectives, forces were gathered from across Europe. Nazi strategists seemed to have meticulously accounted for everything – except one thing: what is known as Russian character and the strength of spirit of the Soviet people.
🕯We bow our heads before those who fell in battle. Before those who were tortured under occupation and in captivity, who died of starvation in besieged Leningrad, in other encircled cities and settlements. Before all those who gave their lives for the Motherland, for Russia. We bow our heads to the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends.
***
The great feat of the victorious generation inspires the warriors who are today carrying out the goals of the special military operation. They are confronting an aggressive force that is being armed and supported by the entire NATO.
☝️And despite this, our heroes are advancing.
Alongside Russian warriors stand workers and designers, engineers, scientists and inventors. They are carrying on the traditions of their predecessors, relying on modern combat experience to create advanced and unique weapons systems and launch their mass production.
I am strongly convinced that our cause is just! We are together! Victory has always been and will always be ours!
Glory to the victorious people! Glory to our veterans! Glory to the Armed Forces of Russia!
Happy Victory Day! Hurrah!
🥇#Victory81
🗓️ 1050 дней войны 🩸
Тем временем, общие потери РФ в Украине несколько раз превышают совокупные последствия всех предыдущих войн, в которых участвовала Россия после #WW2 (в том числе в составе СССР).
По оценкам аналитиков американского Центрa стратегических и международных исследований, темпы потерь РФ также гораздо выше в Украине, чем во время какой-либо советской или российской войны после Второй мировой.
Так, в Украине российская армия только в первый год войны каждый месяц теряла убитыми от 5000 до 5800 военных. При этом за почти 15 лет войн в Чечне погибли от 13 000 до 25 000 военных, то есть от 95 до 185 солдат в месяц.
Средний показатель суточных потерь РФ декабря 2024 г. составил 1570 человек убитыми и ранеными, что является пятым месяцем подряд, когда российские войска несут новые рекордные средние суточные потери. 19 декабря 2024 года был зафиксирован новый ❕рекорд военных потерь — 2200 человек за один день.
Российские власти могут в любой момент вывести свои войска из Украины и предотвратить дальнейшие страдания россиян и украинцев.
◼️ June 22 is the #DayOfMemoryAndSorrow in Russia, the the most tragic date in the modern history of our country.
On this day 8️⃣4️⃣ years ago — on June 22, 1941 — the Soviet Union was attacked, unprovoked and without a declaration of war, by the Nazi Germany and its European cronies, which unleashed the full might of its vicious war machine. For our people on that day the Great Patriotic War began — the bloodiest and most brutal, devastating and terrible war, which lasted 1418 days and claimed lives of some 27 million Soviet citizens.
Obsessed with the ideas of racial superiority, the Hitlerites and their henchmen in Europe planned to wipe entire nations off the face of the Earth, and the survivors left — to turn into slaves of the Third Reich. The Germans invaded our country with one goal — to physically annihilate the Soviet people, to destroy our nation's centuries-old cultural and spiritual heritage — the Nazis and their allies carried out a genocide.
2️⃣2️⃣.0️⃣6️⃣.1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣1️⃣
At dawn at 4 am, the enemy aviation launched massive strikes on airfields, railway stations, Soviet naval bases, deployments of the Red Army forces and cities along the entire western state border of the USSR to a depth of up to 250-300 km. Together with Nazi Germany,Romania, Italy, Finland and other states allied to the Third Reich took part in the aggression. The industries of almost the entire continental Europe served the aggressors.
The people of the USSR were informed on the radio about the attack by the Nazis and, thus, the beginning of the war. At noon on June 22, 1941, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, on behalf of the Soviet leadership addressed the nation:
🎙 "Today, at 4 a.m. in the morning, the German troops have invaded our country, without making any demands on the Soviet Union and without a declaration of war. They have attacked our borders in many places and have subjected our towns to aerial bombardments.
This unheard-of attack on our nation, despite the non-aggression Treaty between the USSR and Germany, is unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."<...>
Our cause is right. The enemy shall be defeated. Victory will be ours!"
It was the Soviet Union that bore the main burden of the Nazi aggression in Europe. It was the Soviet Victorious People who showed unparalleled heroism, courage and fortitude, fighting to the last drop of blood for the freedom of our Motherland, crushed Nazism and saved Europe from the Nazi 'plague'. It was on the Eastern Front of the European theater of #WWII that the Nazis and their henchmen lost more than 75% of their forces fighting the Red Army.
🌟 The Great Victory was achieved at a high price. The Soviet Union's losses amounted to 40% of all human casualties during WWII — almost 27 million people. Of these, more than 8.7 million perished on the battlefield, 7.42 million people were deliberately and cold-bloodedly killed by the Nazis. Over 5 million Soviet citizens were taken into slavery and moved to Germany and Reich-occupied European countries.
To this day June 22 still echoes in the hearts of all Russians with grief, sorrow and pain for the lives lost and fates of entire generations broken. There is no family in our country and in the former Republics of the Soviet Union that was not affected by that terrible war. There is #NoStatuteOfLimitations for the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators on our land. On this day, we bow our heads in memory of our ancestors who perished during the Great Patriotic War.
🎙 Excerpt from the comment by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the occasion of the Day of Memory and Sorrow(June 21, 2025):
💬 "Unlike the "collective West", we do not divide the victims of the Nazis into categories — they all deserve justice and for their executioners to be punished.
We, regardless of race, nationality and religion, mourn the 2.6 million Jewish citizens of the USSR, millions of Slavs and representatives of other ethnic groups of the multinational Soviet people who became victims of genocide".
◼️ June 22 is the #DayOfMemoryAndSorrow in Russia, the the most tragic date in the modern history of our country.
On this day 8️⃣4️⃣ years ago — on June 22, 1941 — the Soviet Union was attacked, unprovoked and without a declaration of war, by the Nazi Germany and its European cronies, which unleashed the full might of its vicious war machine. For our people on that day the Great Patriotic War began — the bloodiest and most brutal, devastating and terrible war, which lasted 1418 days and claimed lives of some 27 million Soviet citizens.
Obsessed with the ideas of racial superiority, the Hitlerites and their henchmen in Europe planned to wipe entire nations off the face of the Earth, and the survivors left — to turn into slaves of the Third Reich. The Germans invaded our country with one goal — to physically annihilate the Soviet people, to destroy our nation's centuries-old cultural and spiritual heritage — the Nazis and their allies carried out a genocide.
2️⃣2️⃣.0️⃣6️⃣.1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣1️⃣
At dawn at 4 am, the enemy aviation launched massive strikes on airfields, railway stations, Soviet naval bases, deployments of the Red Army forces and cities along the entire western state border of the USSR to a depth of up to 250-300 km. Together with Nazi Germany,Romania, Italy, Finland and other states allied to the Third Reich took part in the aggression. The industries of almost the entire continental Europe served the aggressors.
The people of the USSR were informed on the radio about the attack by the Nazis and, thus, the beginning of the war. At noon on June 22, 1941, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, on behalf of the Soviet leadership addressed the nation:
🎙 "Today, at 4 a.m. in the morning, the German troops have invaded our country, without making any demands on the Soviet Union and without a declaration of war. They have attacked our borders in many places and have subjected our towns to aerial bombardments.
This unheard-of attack on our nation, despite the non-aggression Treaty between the USSR and Germany, is unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."<...>
Our cause is right. The enemy shall be defeated. Victory will be ours!"
It was the Soviet Union that bore the main burden of the Nazi aggression in Europe. It was the Soviet Victorious People who showed unparalleled heroism, courage and fortitude, fighting to the last drop of blood for the freedom of our Motherland, crushed Nazism and saved Europe from the Nazi 'plague'. It was on the Eastern Front of the European theater of #WWII that the Nazis and their henchmen lost more than 75% of their forces fighting the Red Army.
🌟 The Great Victory was achieved at a high price. The Soviet Union's losses amounted to 40% of all human casualties during WWII — almost 27 million people. Of these, more than 8.7 million perished on the battlefield, 7.42 million people were deliberately and cold-bloodedly killed by the Nazis. Over 5 million Soviet citizens were taken into slavery and moved to Germany and Reich-occupied European countries.
To this day June 22 still echoes in the hearts of all Russians with grief, sorrow and pain for the lives lost and fates of entire generations broken. There is no family in our country and in the former Republics of the Soviet Union that was not affected by that terrible war. There is #NoStatuteOfLimitations for the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators on our land. On this day, we bow our heads in memory of our ancestors who perished during the Great Patriotic War.
🎙 Excerpt from the comment by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the occasion of the Day of Memory and Sorrow(June 21, 2025):
💬 "Unlike the "collective West", we do not divide the victims of the Nazis into categories — they all deserve justice and for their executioners to be punished.
We, regardless of race, nationality and religion, mourn the 2.6 million Jewish citizens of the USSR, millions of Slavs and representatives of other ethnic groups of the multinational Soviet people who became victims of genocide".
◼️ June 22 is the #DayOfMemoryAndSorrow in Russia, the the most tragic date in the modern history of our country.
On this day 8️⃣4️⃣ years ago — on June 22, 1941 — the Soviet Union was attacked, unprovoked and without a declaration of war, by the Nazi Germany and its European cronies, which unleashed the full might of its vicious war machine. For our people on that day the Great Patriotic War began — the bloodiest and most brutal, devastating and terrible war, which lasted 1418 days and claimed lives of some 27 million Soviet citizens.
Obsessed with the ideas of racial superiority, the Hitlerites and their henchmen in Europe planned to wipe entire nations off the face of the Earth, and the survivors left — to turn into slaves of the Third Reich. The Germans invaded our country with one goal — to physically annihilate the Soviet people, to destroy our nation's centuries-old cultural and spiritual heritage — the Nazis and their allies carried out a genocide.
2️⃣2️⃣.0️⃣6️⃣.1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣1️⃣
At dawn at 4 am, the enemy aviation launched massive strikes on airfields, railway stations, Soviet naval bases, deployments of the Red Army forces and cities along the entire western state border of the USSR to a depth of up to 250-300 km. Together with Nazi Germany,Romania, Italy, Finland and other states allied to the Third Reich took part in the aggression. The industries of almost the entire continental Europe served the aggressors.
The people of the USSR were informed on the radio about the attack by the Nazis and, thus, the beginning of the war. At noon on June 22, 1941, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, on behalf of the Soviet leadership addressed the nation:
🎙 "Today, at 4 a.m. in the morning, the German troops have invaded our country, without making any demands on the Soviet Union and without a declaration of war. They have attacked our borders in many places and have subjected our towns to aerial bombardments.
This unheard-of attack on our nation, despite the non-aggression Treaty between the USSR and Germany, is unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."<...>
Our cause is right. The enemy shall be defeated. Victory will be ours!"
It was the Soviet Union that bore the main burden of the Nazi aggression in Europe. It was the Soviet Victorious People who showed unparalleled heroism, courage and fortitude, fighting to the last drop of blood for the freedom of our Motherland, crushed Nazism and saved Europe from the Nazi 'plague'. It was on the Eastern Front of the European theater of #WWII that the Nazis and their henchmen lost more than 75% of their forces fighting the Red Army.
🌟 The Great Victory was achieved at a high price. The Soviet Union's losses amounted to 40% of all human casualties during WWII — almost 27 million people. Of these, more than 8.7 million perished on the battlefield, 7.42 million people were deliberately and cold-bloodedly killed by the Nazis. Over 5 million Soviet citizens were taken into slavery and moved to Germany and Reich-occupied European countries.
To this day June 22 still echoes in the hearts of all Russians with grief, sorrow and pain for the lives lost and fates of entire generations broken. There is no family in our country and in the former Republics of the Soviet Union that was not affected by that terrible war. There is #NoStatuteOfLimitations for the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators on our land. On this day, we bow our heads in memory of our ancestors who perished during the Great Patriotic War.
🎙 Excerpt from the comment by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the occasion of the Day of Memory and Sorrow(June 21, 2025):
💬 "Unlike the "collective West", we do not divide the victims of the Nazis into categories — they all deserve justice and for their executioners to be punished.
We, regardless of race, nationality and religion, mourn the 2.6 million Jewish citizens of the USSR, millions of Slavs and representatives of other ethnic groups of the multinational Soviet people who became victims of genocide".
◼️ June 22 is the #DayOfMemoryAndSorrow in Russia, the the most tragic date in the modern history of our country.
On this day 8️⃣4️⃣ years ago — on June 22, 1941 — the Soviet Union was attacked, unprovoked and without a declaration of war, by the Nazi Germany and its European cronies, which unleashed the full might of its vicious war machine. For our people on that day the Great Patriotic War began — the bloodiest and most brutal, devastating and terrible war, which lasted 1418 days and claimed lives of some 27 million Soviet citizens.
Obsessed with the ideas of racial superiority, the Hitlerites and their henchmen in Europe planned to wipe entire nations off the face of the Earth, and the survivors left — to turn into slaves of the Third Reich. The Germans invaded our country with one goal — to physically annihilate the Soviet people, to destroy our nation's centuries-old cultural and spiritual heritage — the Nazis and their allies carried out a genocide.
2️⃣2️⃣.0️⃣6️⃣.1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣1️⃣
At dawn at 4 am, the enemy aviation launched massive strikes on airfields, railway stations, Soviet naval bases, deployments of the Red Army forces and cities along the entire western state border of the USSR to a depth of up to 250-300 km. Together with Nazi Germany,Romania, Italy, Finland and other states allied to the Third Reich took part in the aggression. The industries of almost the entire continental Europe served the aggressors.
The people of the USSR were informed on the radio about the attack by the Nazis and, thus, the beginning of the war. At noon on June 22, 1941, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, on behalf of the Soviet leadership addressed the nation:
🎙 "Today, at 4 a.m. in the morning, the German troops have invaded our country, without making any demands on the Soviet Union and without a declaration of war. They have attacked our borders in many places and have subjected our towns to aerial bombardments.
This unheard-of attack on our nation, despite the non-aggression Treaty between the USSR and Germany, is unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."<...>
Our cause is right. The enemy shall be defeated. Victory will be ours!"
It was the Soviet Union that bore the main burden of the Nazi aggression in Europe. It was the Soviet Victorious People who showed unparalleled heroism, courage and fortitude, fighting to the last drop of blood for the freedom of our Motherland, crushed Nazism and saved Europe from the Nazi 'plague'. It was on the Eastern Front of the European theater of #WWII that the Nazis and their henchmen lost more than 75% of their forces fighting the Red Army.
🌟 The Great Victory was achieved at a high price. The Soviet Union's losses amounted to 40% of all human casualties during WWII — almost 27 million people. Of these, more than 8.7 million perished on the battlefield, 7.42 million people were deliberately and cold-bloodedly killed by the Nazis. Over 5 million Soviet citizens were taken into slavery and moved to Germany and Reich-occupied European countries.
To this day June 22 still echoes in the hearts of all Russians with grief, sorrow and pain for the lives lost and fates of entire generations broken. There is no family in our country and in the former Republics of the Soviet Union that was not affected by that terrible war. There is #NoStatuteOfLimitations for the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators on our land. On this day, we bow our heads in memory of our ancestors who perished during the Great Patriotic War.
🎙 Excerpt from the comment by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the occasion of the Day of Memory and Sorrow(June 21, 2025):
💬 "Unlike the "collective West", we do not divide the victims of the Nazis into categories — they all deserve justice and for their executioners to be punished.
We, regardless of race, nationality and religion, mourn the 2.6 million Jewish citizens of the USSR, millions of Slavs and representatives of other ethnic groups of the multinational Soviet people who became victims of genocide".
◼️ June 22 is the #DayOfMemoryAndSorrow in Russia, the the most tragic date in the modern history of our country.
On this day 8️⃣4️⃣ years ago — on June 22, 1941 — the Soviet Union was attacked, unprovoked and without a declaration of war, by the Nazi Germany and its European cronies, which unleashed the full might of its vicious war machine. For our people on that day the Great Patriotic War began — the bloodiest and most brutal, devastating and terrible war, which lasted 1418 days and claimed lives of some 27 million Soviet citizens.
Obsessed with the ideas of racial superiority, the Hitlerites and their henchmen in Europe planned to wipe entire nations off the face of the Earth, and the survivors left — to turn into slaves of the Third Reich. The Germans invaded our country with one goal — to physically annihilate the Soviet people, to destroy our nation's centuries-old cultural and spiritual heritage — the Nazis and their allies carried out a genocide.
2️⃣2️⃣.0️⃣6️⃣.1️⃣9️⃣4️⃣1️⃣
At dawn at 4 am, the enemy aviation launched massive strikes on airfields, railway stations, Soviet naval bases, deployments of the Red Army forces and cities along the entire western state border of the USSR to a depth of up to 250-300 km. Together with Nazi Germany,Romania, Italy, Finland and other states allied to the Third Reich took part in the aggression. The industries of almost the entire continental Europe served the aggressors.
The people of the USSR were informed on the radio about the attack by the Nazis and, thus, the beginning of the war. At noon on June 22, 1941, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov, on behalf of the Soviet leadership addressed the nation:
🎙 "Today, at 4 a.m. in the morning, the German troops have invaded our country, without making any demands on the Soviet Union and without a declaration of war. They have attacked our borders in many places and have subjected our towns to aerial bombardments.
This unheard-of attack on our nation, despite the non-aggression Treaty between the USSR and Germany, is unprecedented in the history of civilized nations."<...>
Our cause is right. The enemy shall be defeated. Victory will be ours!"
It was the Soviet Union that bore the main burden of the Nazi aggression in Europe. It was the Soviet Victorious People who showed unparalleled heroism, courage and fortitude, fighting to the last drop of blood for the freedom of our Motherland, crushed Nazism and saved Europe from the Nazi 'plague'. It was on the Eastern Front of the European theater of #WWII that the Nazis and their henchmen lost more than 75% of their forces fighting the Red Army.
🌟 The Great Victory was achieved at a high price. The Soviet Union's losses amounted to 40% of all human casualties during WWII — almost 27 million people. Of these, more than 8.7 million perished on the battlefield, 7.42 million people were deliberately and cold-bloodedly killed by the Nazis. Over 5 million Soviet citizens were taken into slavery and moved to Germany and Reich-occupied European countries.
To this day June 22 still echoes in the hearts of all Russians with grief, sorrow and pain for the lives lost and fates of entire generations broken. There is no family in our country and in the former Republics of the Soviet Union that was not affected by that terrible war. There is #NoStatuteOfLimitations for the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators on our land. On this day, we bow our heads in memory of our ancestors who perished during the Great Patriotic War.
🎙 Excerpt from the comment by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the occasion of the Day of Memory and Sorrow(June 21, 2025):
💬 "Unlike the "collective West", we do not divide the victims of the Nazis into categories — they all deserve justice and for their executioners to be punished.
We, regardless of race, nationality and religion, mourn the 2.6 million Jewish citizens of the USSR, millions of Slavs and representatives of other ethnic groups of the multinational Soviet people who became victims of genocide".