Ukraine’s UK envoy says Russia exploits WWII memory to justify aggression

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, has accused Russia of using "the memory of World War II as a tool of propaganda and to incite hostility toward Ukrainians."

He made the remarks addressing the UK Parliament on February 26, Caliber.Az reports, citing Zaluzhnyi's Telegram channel.

He hailed the Ukrainians’ role in World War II and condemned modern misinterpretations of those events.

According to the diplomat, “For Vladimir Putin, the Second World War remains the main consolidating factor, and the myth of the ‘great victory’ has effectively become an ideology that justifies violence.”

He argued that Ukraine’s reinterpretation of the war as a shared tragedy caused by both the Nazi and communist regimes has posed a serious challenge to Moscow. In this context, Russia presents its aggression against Ukraine as a “continuation of the fight against Nazism” and so-called “denazification,” he said.

Zaluzhnyi emphasised that Ukrainians made an enormous contribution to the defeat of Nazism. At the same time, he noted that the “communist regime” never received proper condemnation after 1945, and that the Yalta system cemented Europe’s division.

The ambassador also warned that the international community must not repeat the mistakes made after World War II. “A compromise with the aggressor without its defeat will only postpone another war,” he said, adding that supporting Ukraine means not only helping a country defending itself but also protecting the principles of international law and democracy.

By Khagan Isayev