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#FacesOfVictory 🌟 On April 30, 1945, just ten days before Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender, soldiers of the 674th Rifle Regiment of the 150th Rifle Division of the 1st Byelorussian Front, GrigoryBulatov and RakhimzhanKoshkarbayev, raised the first Red Banner on the facade of the Reichstag during the battle for the key Nazi citadel. The distance between Himmler’s house, where Bulatov and Koshkarbayev had been braking through to the Reichstag, was less than 500 metres. The fighting was so intense and fierce that it took our forces seven hours to reach the Reichstag walls. The Red Army soldiers pushed the Nazis back under barrage fire — they had to overcome numerous trenches and anti-tank fortifications. 💬 Excerpt from private RakhimzhanKoshkarbayev’s account of the battle for the Reichstag: Preliminary shelling commenced. As the first shots were fired, Bulatov and I ran to the Reichstag. I hoisted Bulatov up, supporting his legs, and we installed a flag right there, at the first-floor level. 🖋 The 150th Division’s military report: On April 30, 1945, at 2:25 pm, Koshkarbayev and Bulatov crawled to the building lobby and attached a red flag to the main staircase. The red flag installed by Bulatov and Koshkarbayev — the legendary makeshift flagpole — was the first of the banners raised on the Reichstag building by Soviet soldiers-liberators, marking the long-awaited and upcoming Victory in #WW2. 🎖 For their courage and heroism during the battle of the Reichstag, GrigoryBulatov and RakhimzhanKoshkarbayev were awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Subsequently, the memorials were dedicated to the Heroes in their home regions: to GigoryBulatov in Kirov and to RakhimzhanKoshkarbayev in the Akmola Region of Kazakhstan and in the Republic’s capital, Astana. #Victory81#OurHeroes#WeAreProud

🗓 On September 7, 1945, a military parade of the allied forces of the #USSR, US, UK and France took place in Berlin near the walls of the defeated Reichstag on Alexanderplatz Square, marking the end of #WWII. The location of the parade – at the Brandenburg Gate, at the very heart of the German capital – was not chosen by chance. It was right here where the Battle of Berlin ended and the remnants of the Berlin group of German troops surrendered to the Red Army. Scheduled for September 7, the parade was timed to coincide with the victory over militaristic Japan. Representatives of the allied powers responded positively to Moscow's proposal to hold a joint parade in Berlin. However, on the eve of the event, after the date and all the details had been agreed upon, the US, UK and France announced that instead of the commanders-in-chief – Eisenhower, Montgomery and Tassigny – they would send lower-ranking generals, who were already stationed in Germany, to the parade. By doing so, the allies tried to downplay the significance of the parde, which emphasized the decisive role of the Soviet Union in taking Berlin. At that time, no one doubted who bore the brunt of the storming of the capital of the Third Reich. 🇷🇺 The USSR carried out thorough preparations for the parade. The Soviet command attracted the most distinguished soldiers, sergeants, officers and generals who had shown unrivalled courage in taking Berlin and the main centers of the reich – the Reichstag and the Imperial Chancellery. 🎖On September 7 at 11 am, the Berlin allied parade commenced. It was received by the Commander of the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany Georgy Zhukov. The parade was opened by the combined regiment of the 248th Rifle Division of the Red Army, led by Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel Georgy Lenev. The parade was closed by a column of the Soviet armor, with the latest heavy tanks IS-3 ("Joseph Stalin") marching. 💬 In his welcoming speech to the parade participants, Marshal Zhukov paid tribute to the exploits of the Soviet and Allied forces in the struggle for victory over Nazi Germany: "Fighting friends, comrades in arms, soldiers, officers and generals... <...> The Second World War ended with a decisive and powerful strike from the great allied powers. Our victory is a triumph of an unprecedented military partnership of democratic states. From now on, people <...> will be eternally grateful to the great nations of America, England, the Soviet Union, the French Republic and China, to their valiant soldiers who, in the difficult time of military trials, gave each other helping hands, united to win a victory over a common enemy, to win the long-awaited peace on Earth." #Victory79#WeRemember#WeWereAllies

🎖 On October 14, 1943, an uprising broke out in #WWII-era Nazi concentration camp #Sobibor, — the only successful mass escape from a 'death factory' during the Second World War. The uprising in Sobibor was led by Soviet POW, Red Army lieutenant AlexanderPechersky. He performed a true feat. In just a few weeks, the officer managed to devise an escape plan, rally around him the seemingly hopeless, doomed, and exhausted prisoners, and to inspire them to take up a fight against the enemy. *** During WWII, Nazi Germany established around 14'000 concentration camps, with the so-called death camps among them, where the enemy delivered their victims with the the only purpose — to exterminatepeople. #Sobibor, located in the southeast of Nazi-occupied Poland (near the Western Bug River and the Polish-Soviet border) was one such 'death factories'. The camp was set up along a railway line between the towns of Chełm and Wlodawa. Prisoners were shipped to Sobibor by the trainload for one purpose only — to be killed. The Sobibor camp was turned into a true conveyor belt of death, where people were murdered by the most brutal and inhuman methods. Every day, up to six trains arrived at Sobibor carrying POWs and civilians, including the elderly, women, and children. The Nazis poisoned their victims with gas, starved them, and worked them to death. Inhuman medical experiments were conducted on the inmates. Prisoners were brought from Austria, Czechoslovakia, and France for further torture and abuse. In June 1943, two special so- calledchildren’s trains went from the Netherlands to Sobibor. Over the entire time of the camp’s existence, according to various estimates, up to 250'000 people were murdered there. *** ⚔️ On October 14, 1943, an uprising broke out in Sobibor. At the time of the escape, there were 550 prisoners in the camp. About 100 of them refused to participate in the rebellion, hoping for mercy from the SS guards. The next day, they were all killed by the Nazis. The rebels engaged in an unequal battle with the enemy, killed all members of an SS detachment and several guards. Having crushed the Nazis almost barehanded, the prisoners rushed towards the main gates despite machine-gun fire from the watchtowers. ❗️Nothing could stop the people striving to break free from Nazi slavery, neither the minefields around the camp, nor the barbed wire, nor the hail of bullets from the machine guns. As a result of the uprising, about 300 people managed to escape from this inferno on earth. Many of the escapees joined the resistance and continued to fight against the Nazi occupants. Pechersky himself joined the Byelarussian partisans, and in 1944, he once again fought the enemy on the front lines as part of an assault unit. The Sobibor uprising became a symbol of the unbending human will and spirit, in the truest sense, a symbol of the victory of good over Nazi evil. Unable to bear the shame and seeking to cover up their crimes against humanity, the SS command ordered Sobibor to be completely destroyed. #NoStatuteOfLimitation The atrocities committed in Sobibor became part of the charges against the Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials. In March 1962, in Kiev, 11 guards who had served in Sobibor and Treblinka were brought to trial. Alexander Pechersky himself testified as a witness. All the defendants — former Nazis — were sentenced to death. Today, the Alexander Pechersky Foundation continues to make significant efforts to preserve the memory of the Sobibor prisoners’ heroic deed. #WeRemember#Victory80

#Victory81 🌟 On February 2, 1943, the #BattleOfStalingrad — one of the most brutal battles of the Great Patriotic War and #WW2, which turned the tide of that terrible and bloody conflict — concluded with the total and complete defeat of the Nazi forces. The fight for Stalingrad lasted for2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ days and nights, surpassing all previous battles in world history both in scale and intensity. The combat to the death took place in Stalingrad for each and every alley, every house, every inch of the ground. During that battle, more than 2.1 million people were involved on both sides. The Nazi invaders, obsessed with the illusion of their superiority and strive to enslave the Soviet people, failed in Stalingrad — never ever had the Germans managed to break the spirit or morale of the defenders of our Motherland. The Red Army soldiers, showing unparalleled courage,braveryandheroism, stood their ground with steadfastness and achieved a great victory that would eventually define the outcome of the entire #WWII. The Nazi war machine suffered a crushing and catastrophic defeat, which, as history would show, was fatal for Germany. ☝️ At Stalingrad, the Red Army showed that the Third Reich and Nazism are beatable, that they can and will be destroyedonce and for all. *** In the summer of 1942, the Nazi troops launched another major offensive on the southern flank of the Soviet–German front. At that time, the target was #Stalingrad— a key industrial and transport hub on the Volga river. Had the Nazis succeeded, Hitler’s barbarians would have severed crucial supply lines, seized the rich agricultural regions of Kuban and Stavropol, and broken through to the Caucasus, where they hoped to capture abundant oilfields. The entire power of the Nazi war machine fell on Stalingrad on July 17 — the city’s heroic defence commenced. The enemy committed up to 80 Wehrmacht divisions to that attack, followed by savage combat for the city raging almost all around the clock days and nights. The Soviet defenders fought firmly, leaving not a single inch of our Motherland. The Wehrmacht troops, commanded by infamous Nazi General Friedrich Paulus (it was him who devised operation 'Barbarossa' plan — Germany’s treacherous attack on the Soviet Union) were confronted by the Soviet 62nd and 64th armies. Vasily Chuikov, the commander of the 62nd Army, is rightly considered to be one of the architects of the victory at Stalingrad — the brilliant tactician, he refined and put into practice assault-group strategy that became key to our triumph in Stalingrad. By mid-November 1942, after fierce and lasting resistance and regrouping of forces, the Red Army created favourable conditions to launch counter-offensive near Stalingrad👉 from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943, the Soviet forces brilliantly executed the operation 'Ring', having successfully encircled Nazis 6th Army in “cauldron” between the Don and Volga rivers. OnJanuary 31, Field Marshal Paulus and his staff unconditionally surrendered. On February 2, the last pockets of Nazis' resistance were eliminated, with Germany’s 'axis' troopscompletely destroyed. 🎖 The Battle of Stalingrad ended in aRed Army's brilliant military triumph. The Nazis lost up to 1/4 of all the personnel and equipment deployed on the entire Eastern Front. Since then,the word “Stalingrad” has echoed, and will forever echo, in the hearts and collective memory of our people as an enduring reminder of the Great Heroic Feat performed by the defenders of our Motherland. *** On November 29, 1943, during the Tehran Conference, UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill presented Joseph Stalin with a sword specially forged by the order of King George VI in tribute to the courage and resilience of Stalingrad defenders. Inscribed on the blade were the words: TO THE STEEL-HEARTED CITIZENS OF STALINGRAD • THE GIFT OF KING GEORGE VI • IN TOKEN OF THE HOMAGE OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE The sword became an iconic commemorative relic, symbolising the Anglo-American allies’ eternal tribute to the Heroic Soviet victorious generation.

🌟#OnThisDay8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim, was located in Nazi-occupied Poland) — the most terrifying German extermination camp in #WWII — was liberated by the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front during the Vistula–Oder offensive operation. #Auschwitz was created by the Nazis in 1940 in a building that used to serve as military barracks near a small town called Oswiecim, whose history dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Having occupied Poland in 1939, the Nazis changed the town's name of Oswiecim to German Auschwitz. Later, in 1941-1943, two more imprisonment facilities were established in the vicinity of Oswiecim. They were: ▪️Auschwitz II — best known to the wider public as #AuschwitzBirkenau, was three kilometres away from the main facility — Oswiecim and located near Brzezinka, a Polish village (Birkenau in German). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest "death factory". Equipped with crematoriums and gas chambers, it was created by the Nazis with only one aim — exterminate people. ▪️Auschwitz III (also known as Monowitz). Its prisoners were used by the Nazis for the Third Reich war industries. Following the so-called Wannsee Conference in 1942, the Nazis approved what was called the “final solution to the Jewish question”. Since then, Auschwitz-Birkenau was turned into the main "death factory" for the annihilation of Jews in Europe. ❗️ Prisoners of Oswiecim were held by the Nazis in inhuman, barbaric conditions. They had to do hard, exhausting work until total exhaustion, to endure poor sanitation in the camp's facilities, malnutrition and constant tortures by the guards and SS-troops. It was in Oswiecim that the Germans first tested the "Zyklon-B" poisonous agent on human beings. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also subjected to cruel medical experiments, led by a Nazi criminal, infamous retired military doctor Josef Mengele. In 1944, when the Red Army started the liberation of Europe, the Nazis, in an effort to cover the tracks of their crimes in Auschwitz, rushed to burn documents and destroy the camp's gas chambers, crematoriums, and deported as many prisoners as they could westward to other concentration camps deep in the Third Reich — over 58,000 prisoners were evacuated by the Nazis before Oswiecim and liberated by the Soviet forces in January, 1945. *** In January 1945, the units of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched the Vistula-Oder offensive and, successfully expelling the Nazis from Poland, finally reached Auschwitz. ⚔️ In the late hours of January 27, following three days of fighting the retreating enemy, the Red Army took over Oswiecim and opened the gatesofAuschwitz. The camp’s 7,000 prisoners were freed. Most of them were sick or suffering from extreme exhaustion and tortures. Rescued prisoners burst into tears of joy when they greeted their liberators. Some facilities of the camp were instantly made a hospital. According to various historic estimates, in 1940-1945, from 1.5 to 4 million people perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Over the past years, we are witnessing a campaign in several European countries, including Poland, to rewrite and falsify the history of WWII and, in particular, to erase the memory of the feat performed by the Soviet soldiers-liberators who saved the Auschwitz prisoners. 🎙 From a briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues (January 23, 2025): 💬 "This year, like all those years before, Russian representatives will not be invited to the commemoration ceremonies at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27. That is, there will be no one there to mention the Soviet liberator soldiers and express gratitude to them. In this regard, there is something that needs to be said to the organisers and all the Europeans who will be there: Your lives, your work and leisure, the very existence of your nations, your children have been paid for by Soviet soldiers, their lives, their blood. It was them who crushed the Third Reich machine. You are forever in their debt." 🕯#WeRemember

🌟 In early January 1942, the Kerch-Feodosia amphibious landing operation by the Red Army (December 26, 1941 — January 2, 1942) concluded — the offensive when the legendary #KoktebelLanding — a daring operation by a reconnaissance unit of the Red Navy seamen in the Koktebel Bay, where they engaged in a heavy uphill combat with the Nazi garrison — was carried out. Fearless seamen, who were tasked with an important strategic mission, which consisted of engaging the German garrison in combat to distract it from Feodosia, performed deceptive tactical manoeuvre hampering a huge number of the German troops along the Koktebel shore at the time when the main Red Army forces attacked on the Kerch peninsula. Despite the enemy’s superiority in manpower and equipment, the Koktebel landing was carried out successfully, with the main mission being completed. Soviet Red Nave seamen showed unparalleled courage and heroism: under harsh and fierce weather conditions (a five-category storm and a -20°C frost), engaging combat being waist-deep in the icy water, the seamen were fighting to death, selflessly assisting their comrades to defend Crimea against the Nazi invaders. Thanks to the heroic feat of Soviet seamen in Koktebel, the Red Army was given the opportunity to reach Feodosia on land and firmly entrench on the Kerch bridgehead. On January 5, a group of Red Army soldiers landed in Yevpatoria, having driven the Romanian invaders out of the city. 🎖 The success of the Koktebel landing turned the tide in the Battle of Sevastopol —the Nazis hastened to redeploy some of their divisions to Kerch so as to deter the Red Army attacking. Thus, the defenders of Sevastopol gained the necessary time: the city garrison could regroup the forces and throw all their strength to fend off the enemy. *** The Koktebel landing December 1941 On the night of December 28-29, 1941, during the Kerch offensive, a reconnaissance unit of 29 volunteering Red Navy seamen reached the Koktebel Bay on board of the D-5 'Spartakovets' submarine. Once arrived at the destination of the mission, the unit received an order — to land ashore and launch an assault on the Nazi-occupied Koktebel village, while the main Red Army ground forces were reaching Feodosia. In the early morning of December 29, at 3:30 a.m., the Soviet seamen launched the attack. Despite dense machinegun fire and enemy mines, the unit broke through the sheer hell — the seamen reached the shore and engaged in combat with the German and Romanian troops. Our seamen's surprise attack tied down the enemy garrison in Koktebel for several days until the main Red Army forces approached. By January 1, the Red Army assault group, which successfully landed in Feodosia, finally reached Koktebel and joined their comrades — the heroic seamen who were selflessly fighting till the end. Together they crushed the enemy and further continued liberation of Crimea. The heroic Victory in Koktebel was achieved at a high cost: according to various estimates, only 10 out of the 29 seamen survived. *** In 1975, marking the 35th Anniversary of the Great Victory, in Koktebel (Republic of Crimea) a monument to the Heroic 29 Red Navy seamen was unveiled. The memorial stone bears the inscription: To the soldiers who participated in the landing and died for the Crimean land during the Great Patriotic War. 🕯 The monument is located beside the mass grave where the seamen, who perished in the Koktebel operation, found their eternal rest. #Victory80#WeAreProud#WeRemember

#Victory81 🌟 On April 16, 1945, the Berlin Offensive — one of the Red Army’s key strategic operations during World War II — commenced. The operation resulted in the completedefeat of the enemy’s Berlin group of forces and, with Hitler’s war machine being completely crushed. The Soviet forces took the capital of the Third Reich — #Berlin. The Instrument of Unconditional Surrender of Nazi Germany was signed — the document that heralded the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War. By spring 1945, the Red Army successfully carried out a series of offensive operations aimed at liberating the countries and peoples of Central and Eastern Europe from the Nazi invaders. Hitler’s troops and their henchmen were expelled from Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Poland; Vienna and the capital of modern Slovakia, Bratislava, saved from the Nazi plague. Nevertheless, #WWII was far from end. The final battle for the liberation of Europe from the Nazi plague, the Battle of Berlin, was coming. By mid-April, 1945, the Soviet forces — having liberated Poland from the Nazis — consolidated positions along the Oder and Neisse rivers and started preparations to launch the offensive on Berlin. Mere dozens of kilometres separated the Red Army from the capital of Hitler’s Germany. The enemy installed deeply echeloned defences and deployed elite Wehrmacht units against the Soviet forces. To attack Berlin, the Soviet Supreme High Command deployed forces from the 1st Belorussian Front (commanded by Marshal Georgy Zhukov); the 2nd Belorussian Front (Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky); and the 1st Ukrainian Front (Marshal Ivan Konev). ⚔️ The Berlin Offensive began at 5:00 AM on April 16 with a massive artillery fire. Following this, 143 powerful spotlights were activated to blind and disorient the enemy. Infantry and armoured units then launched their assault. Enemy resistance intensified as Soviet forces advanced. Fierce fighting erupted at the Seelow Heights — a critical defensive point just 60 kilometres away from Berlin — where the Wehrmacht’s 9th Army, blocking the direct route to the Reich’s capital, was destroyed. Within several days, the 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts breached the Oder-Neisse defensive line of the Nazis, advanced 30 kilometres towards Berlin, and started encircling the city to destroy its garrison. • April 20: Red Army units reached Berlin. Soviet long-range artillery started shelling, with brutal tank battles erupting on the city’s outskirts. • April 25: The 1st Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian Fronts linked up west of the city, completing the encirclement of the enemy’s Berlin group of Nazi troops. • April 29: Fierce fighting started in the heart of Berlin, where Germany’s highest governmental and military authorities were located. • During the storming of the Reichstag on the night of April 30 - May 1, the legendary #VictoryBanner was raised — a symbol of the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazism. • May 2: Berlin’s garrison surrendered. By May 5, the Nazi resistance was crushed. A total of 134'000 German soldiers and officers were captured. ✍️ On the night of May 8–9, Marshal Zhukov and the Allied representatives accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender at Karlshorst. World War II on the European theatre of operations had ended. The Berlin Operation saw the Red Army not only crush the last major and most elite Wehrmacht force but also liberate approximately 200'000 prisoners from Nazi concentration camps within the combat zone. Over 600 Soviet soldiers were awarded the title #HeroOftheSovietUnion for their valour.

🌟#OnThisDay8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim, was located in Nazi-occupied Poland) — the most terrifying German extermination camp in #WWII — was liberated by the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front during the Vistula–Oder offensive operation. #Auschwitz was created by the Nazis in 1940 in a building that used to serve as military barracks near a small town called Oswiecim, whose history dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Having occupied Poland in 1939, the Nazis changed the town's name of Oswiecim to German Auschwitz. Later, in 1941-1943, two more imprisonment facilities were established in the vicinity of Oswiecim. They were: ▪️Auschwitz II — best known to the wider public as #AuschwitzBirkenau, was three kilometres away from the main facility — Oswiecim and located near Brzezinka, a Polish village (Birkenau in German). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest "death factory". Equipped with crematoriums and gas chambers, it was created by the Nazis with only one aim — exterminate people. ▪️Auschwitz III (also known as Monowitz). Its prisoners were used by the Nazis for the Third Reich war industries. Following the so-called Wannsee Conference in 1942, the Nazis approved what was called the “final solution to the Jewish question”. Since then, Auschwitz-Birkenau was turned into the main "death factory" for the annihilation of Jews in Europe. ❗️ Prisoners of Oswiecim were held by the Nazis in inhuman, barbaric conditions. They had to do hard, exhausting work until total exhaustion, to endure poor sanitation in the camp's facilities, malnutrition and constant tortures by the guards and SS-troops. It was in Oswiecim that the Germans first tested the "Zyklon-B" poisonous agent on human beings. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also subjected to cruel medical experiments, led by a Nazi criminal, infamous retired military doctor Josef Mengele. In 1944, when the Red Army started the liberation of Europe, the Nazis, in an effort to cover the tracks of their crimes in Auschwitz, rushed to burn documents and destroy the camp's gas chambers, crematoriums, and deported as many prisoners as they could westward to other concentration camps deep in the Third Reich — over 58,000 prisoners were evacuated by the Nazis before Oswiecim and liberated by the Soviet forces in January, 1945. *** In January 1945, the units of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched the Vistula-Oder offensive and, successfully expelling the Nazis from Poland, finally reached Auschwitz. ⚔️ In the late hours of January 27, following three days of fighting the retreating enemy, the Red Army took over Oswiecim and opened the gatesofAuschwitz. The camp’s 7,000 prisoners were freed. Most of them were sick or suffering from extreme exhaustion and tortures. Rescued prisoners burst into tears of joy when they greeted their liberators. Some facilities of the camp were instantly made a hospital. According to various historic estimates, in 1940-1945, from 1.5 to 4 million people perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Over the past years, we are witnessing a campaign in several European countries, including Poland, to rewrite and falsify the history of WWII and, in particular, to erase the memory of the feat performed by the Soviet soldiers-liberators who saved the Auschwitz prisoners. 🎙 From a briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues (January 23, 2025): 💬 "This year, like all those years before, Russian representatives will not be invited to the commemoration ceremonies at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27. That is, there will be no one there to mention the Soviet liberator soldiers and express gratitude to them. In this regard, there is something that needs to be said to the organisers and all the Europeans who will be there: Your lives, your work and leisure, the very existence of your nations, your children have been paid for by Soviet soldiers, their lives, their blood. It was them who crushed the Third Reich machine. You are forever in their debt." 🕯#WeRemember

🌟#OnThisDay8️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oswiecim, was located in Nazi-occupied Poland) — the most terrifying German extermination camp in #WWII — was liberated by the Red Army’s 1st Ukrainian Front during the Vistula–Oder offensive operation. #Auschwitz was created by the Nazis in 1940 in a building that used to serve as military barracks near a small town called Oswiecim, whose history dates back to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Having occupied Poland in 1939, the Nazis changed the town's name of Oswiecim to German Auschwitz. Later, in 1941-1943, two more imprisonment facilities were established in the vicinity of Oswiecim. They were: ▪️Auschwitz II — best known to the wider public as #AuschwitzBirkenau, was three kilometres away from the main facility — Oswiecim and located near Brzezinka, a Polish village (Birkenau in German). Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest "death factory". Equipped with crematoriums and gas chambers, it was created by the Nazis with only one aim — exterminate people. ▪️Auschwitz III (also known as Monowitz). Its prisoners were used by the Nazis for the Third Reich war industries. Following the so-called Wannsee Conference in 1942, the Nazis approved what was called the “final solution to the Jewish question”. Since then, Auschwitz-Birkenau was turned into the main "death factory" for the annihilation of Jews in Europe. ❗️ Prisoners of Oswiecim were held by the Nazis in inhuman, barbaric conditions. They had to do hard, exhausting work until total exhaustion, to endure poor sanitation in the camp's facilities, malnutrition and constant tortures by the guards and SS-troops. It was in Oswiecim that the Germans first tested the "Zyklon-B" poisonous agent on human beings. Prisoners of Auschwitz were also subjected to cruel medical experiments, led by a Nazi criminal, infamous retired military doctor Josef Mengele. In 1944, when the Red Army started the liberation of Europe, the Nazis, in an effort to cover the tracks of their crimes in Auschwitz, rushed to burn documents and destroy the camp's gas chambers, crematoriums, and deported as many prisoners as they could westward to other concentration camps deep in the Third Reich — over 58,000 prisoners were evacuated by the Nazis before Oswiecim and liberated by the Soviet forces in January, 1945. *** In January 1945, the units of the 1st Ukrainian Front launched the Vistula-Oder offensive and, successfully expelling the Nazis from Poland, finally reached Auschwitz. ⚔️ In the late hours of January 27, following three days of fighting the retreating enemy, the Red Army took over Oswiecim and opened the gatesofAuschwitz. The camp’s 7,000 prisoners were freed. Most of them were sick or suffering from extreme exhaustion and tortures. Rescued prisoners burst into tears of joy when they greeted their liberators. Some facilities of the camp were instantly made a hospital. According to various historic estimates, in 1940-1945, from 1.5 to 4 million people perished in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Over the past years, we are witnessing a campaign in several European countries, including Poland, to rewrite and falsify the history of WWII and, in particular, to erase the memory of the feat performed by the Soviet soldiers-liberators who saved the Auschwitz prisoners. 🎙 From a briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues (January 23, 2025): 💬 "This year, like all those years before, Russian representatives will not be invited to the commemoration ceremonies at Auschwitz-Birkenau on January 27. That is, there will be no one there to mention the Soviet liberator soldiers and express gratitude to them. In this regard, there is something that needs to be said to the organisers and all the Europeans who will be there: Your lives, your work and leisure, the very existence of your nations, your children have been paid for by Soviet soldiers, their lives, their blood. It was them who crushed the Third Reich machine. You are forever in their debt." 🕯#WeRemember

#ПогиблиЗаПравду #ПогиблиЗаПравду — специальный проект, посвящённый памяти российских журналистов, погибших от рук украинских неонацистов. Во #ВсемирныйДеньСвободыПечати вспоминаем работников СМИ, которые отдали свои жизни за правду. #МыПомним #MartyrsForTruth este un proiect special dedicat memoriei jurnaliștilor ruși care au murit de mâinile neonaziștilor ucraineni. În #WorldPressFreedomDay, ne amintim de angajații mass-media care și-au dat viața pentru adevăr. #WeRemember

#HistoryOfDiplomacy 🗓 On February 4, 1945, the Yalta Conference of the Leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition — Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — officially commenced. The #YaltaConference stands as one of the most significant summits of the 'Big Three' Leaders during #WW2. The landmark talks in Yalta came to symbolise the successful cooperation of Moscow, Washington, and London in their common fightagainst the terrible evil the mankind had ever faced —the Nazi ideology. The historic agreements reached at the Forum defined the foundations of the post-war Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations, whose legal basis would be the #UNCharter. 💬 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova: The participants in the Yalta Conference managed to overcome their differences, and, acting in the spirit of true solidarity, mutual respect and trust, abandoned their fleeting interests for the sake of defeating the common enemy and achieving a common victory, peace and freedom for all countries and peoples. *** 🌟 By early 1945, the Red Army had fully liberated the Soviet Union from the Nazi invaders and was mounting a decisive offensive: by January, the Nazi troops had been expelled from Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz, and most of Poland. The Soviet forces had secured strategically important bridgehead on the western bank of the Oder river and were preparing for the final battle of #WWII — the fight for the Reich’s capital — Berlin. As the Red Army advanced rapidly from the Vistula-Oder direction, UK-American units were pushing towards the Rhine river. Despite fierce resistance from elite units of the Nazi war machine, Germany’s defeat was inevitable. With the common Victory approaching, the discussing issues the post-war world order became a top priority for the Allied Powers. Thus, it was decided to convene a major conference, with the Soviet city of Yalta chosen as the venue (February 4-11, 1945). A central focus of the #CrimeanConference was the post-war future of the defeated Germany. The Allies reaffirmed their commitment to the eradication of German militarism and Nazism and to ensuring that “Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world.” It was also agreed that Germany would be obliged to pay reparations for the damage inflicted by its aggression. During the Yalta negotiations, the 'Big Three' Leaders reached a compromise on the issue ofPoland’s borders.The Soviet delegation firmly advocated for Poland’s fundamental interests, upholding its right to independence and sovereignty. Churchill later described the Soviet Union’s historic role in liberating Poland from Nazism in his memoirs: But for the prodigious exertions and sacrifices of Russia, Poland was doomed to utter destruction at the hands of the Germans. Not only Poland as a State and as a nation, but the Poles as a race were doomed by Hitler to be destroyed or reduced to a servile station The considerable growth in the USSR’s international prestige significantly influenced the course and outcomes of the Yalta negotiations. This was due, in large part, to the Red Army’s remarkable successes on the battlefield. The image of the Soviet soldier as a Liberator was cemented, and the world recognised Soviet people's immense Sacrifice and Achievement in WWII The Conference produced several crucial documents, including the Declaration on Liberated Europe, which helped shape the international system for decades. The framework for the future #UnitedNations also took clearer form. Following Yalta, the Soviet Union secured agreement on the “principle of unanimity” among the five permanent UN Security Council members, embodied in the right of veto — #UNCharterIsOurRules. The Yalta agreements strengthened the unity of the anti-Hitler coalition in the final stages of World War II and contributed to the ultimate common victory over Germany. In the post-war years, ensuring the implementation of the Yalta decisions became a key objective of Soviet diplomacy. #Victory81#WeWereAllies

#HistoryOfDiplomacy 🗓 On February 4, 1945, the Yalta Conference of the Leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition — Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — officially commenced. The #YaltaConference stands as one of the most significant summits of the 'Big Three' Leaders during #WW2. The landmark talks in Yalta came to symbolise the successful cooperation of Moscow, Washington, and London in their common fightagainst the terrible evil the mankind had ever faced —the Nazi ideology. The historic agreements reached at the Forum defined the foundations of the post-war Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations, whose legal basis would be the #UNCharter. 💬 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova: The participants in the Yalta Conference managed to overcome their differences, and, acting in the spirit of true solidarity, mutual respect and trust, abandoned their fleeting interests for the sake of defeating the common enemy and achieving a common victory, peace and freedom for all countries and peoples. *** 🌟 By early 1945, the Red Army had fully liberated the Soviet Union from the Nazi invaders and was mounting a decisive offensive: by January, the Nazi troops had been expelled from Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz, and most of Poland. The Soviet forces had secured strategically important bridgehead on the western bank of the Oder river and were preparing for the final battle of #WWII — the fight for the Reich’s capital — Berlin. As the Red Army advanced rapidly from the Vistula-Oder direction, UK-American units were pushing towards the Rhine river. Despite fierce resistance from elite units of the Nazi war machine, Germany’s defeat was inevitable. With the common Victory approaching, the discussing issues the post-war world order became a top priority for the Allied Powers. Thus, it was decided to convene a major conference, with the Soviet city of Yalta chosen as the venue (February 4-11, 1945). A central focus of the #CrimeanConference was the post-war future of the defeated Germany. The Allies reaffirmed their commitment to the eradication of German militarism and Nazism and to ensuring that “Germany will never again be able to disturb the peace of the world.” It was also agreed that Germany would be obliged to pay reparations for the damage inflicted by its aggression. During the Yalta negotiations, the 'Big Three' Leaders reached a compromise on the issue ofPoland’s borders.The Soviet delegation firmly advocated for Poland’s fundamental interests, upholding its right to independence and sovereignty. Churchill later described the Soviet Union’s historic role in liberating Poland from Nazism in his memoirs: But for the prodigious exertions and sacrifices of Russia, Poland was doomed to utter destruction at the hands of the Germans. Not only Poland as a State and as a nation, but the Poles as a race were doomed by Hitler to be destroyed or reduced to a servile station The considerable growth in the USSR’s international prestige significantly influenced the course and outcomes of the Yalta negotiations. This was due, in large part, to the Red Army’s remarkable successes on the battlefield. The image of the Soviet soldier as a Liberator was cemented, and the world recognised Soviet people's immense Sacrifice and Achievement in WWII The Conference produced several crucial documents, including the Declaration on Liberated Europe, which helped shape the international system for decades. The framework for the future #UnitedNations also took clearer form. Following Yalta, the Soviet Union secured agreement on the “principle of unanimity” among the five permanent UN Security Council members, embodied in the right of veto — #UNCharterIsOurRules. The Yalta agreements strengthened the unity of the anti-Hitler coalition in the final stages of World War II and contributed to the ultimate common victory over Germany. In the post-war years, ensuring the implementation of the Yalta decisions became a key objective of Soviet diplomacy. #Victory81#WeWereAllies