Moscow, May 9, 2026 – The Europe Today: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused Western countries of attempting to rewrite the history of World War II ahead of the 81st anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany.
Russian officials have repeatedly alleged that the United States and European Union member states are distorting historical facts and diminishing the decisive role played by the Soviet Union during the war, in which an estimated 27 million Soviet citizens lost their lives in what Russia refers to as the Great Patriotic War.
Speaking on Thursday, Zakharova said protecting historical memory remains one of Russia’s key priorities, particularly in light of what she described as growing “revanchist tendencies” in the West.
She pointed to the vote on a United Nations resolution titled “Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fueling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” noting that 51 countries voted against the measure last year, most of them representing what she termed the “collective West.”
Zakharova accused European Union institutions of conducting “historical aggression,” citing resolutions adopted by the European Parliament and organizations linked to the Council of Europe that she said promote the rewriting of World War II history.
According to the Russian official, these initiatives seek to assign the Soviet Union a level of responsibility for the outbreak of World War II “nearly equal” to that of Nazi Germany.
She further claimed that efforts to remove monuments and memorials dedicated to Soviet soldiers who fought against Nazism are intensifying in several countries.
Zakharova specifically highlighted Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as examples, referring to the demolition of Soviet-era war memorials in recent years.
The remarks come amid continuing tensions between Russia and Western nations over differing interpretations of historical events surrounding World War II and the legacy of the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazi Germany.
