Victorious gesture: Putin and Lukashenko discussed protection of historical truth in Volgograd

Moscow and Minsk have agreed to expand industrial cooperation: the Russian Federation, together with Belarusian specialists, is ready to establish a joint venture for the production of unmanned aircraft systems. Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko in Volgograd on April 29. The countries have achieved special success in the trade and economic sphere, and the result, according to the estimates of the President of the Russian Federation, is "simply outstanding" - over $50 billion. At the same time, a significant part of the events of the heads of state concerned the patriotic agenda: the presidents visited Mamayev Kurgan and took part in the Union State Forum "Great Heritage – Common Future". There, the presidents spoke about the need to protect the historical truth: Putin proposed creating a commission at the parliamentary assembly of Russia and Belarus to preserve the memory of the Great Patriotic War, and Lukashenko urged not to allow the West to discredit the Red Army.

Putin and Lukashenko visit Mamayev Kurgan

Vladimir Putin arrived in Volgograd on April 29. In the city, which will soon become one of the centers of Victory anniversary celebrations, everything is ready for celebration: portraits of Joseph Stalin and Georgy Zhukov are hung on houses, flagpoles with St. George ribbons are along the main streets, and literally every alley is decorated with majestic posters reminding residents of the heroic feat of the Soviet people. The word "Stalingrad" was posted in large red letters on the main observation points of the city — this is how Volgograd will be renamed during the celebration of the Great Victory. Here, during the Great Patriotic War, one of the most important battles of the Second World War, the Battle of Stalingrad, took place on the outskirts and in the city itself from July 17, 1942 to February 2, 1943.

However, not only the Great Victory emblems were placed at the airport and at the entrance to the city. Next to them, against the background of large patriotic banners, are the flags of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko also arrived in Volgograd that day. First of all, the leaders went together to one of the main monuments of the history of the Great Patriotic War — the ensemble "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" on Mamayev Kurgan, where the 85-meter sculpture "Motherland calls!" is located. During the Battle of Stalingrad, Mamayev Kurgan was one of the main links in the overall defense system of the Stalingrad Front, since it allowed automatic control of the northern part of the city, the Volga region, and river crossings. This complex "To the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad" was built in the period from 1959 to 1967.

The leaders honored the memory of the heroic defenders here. The heads of state laid wreaths at the eternal flame in the Hall of Military Glory, as well as two bouquets of red roses at the grave of Marshal of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Great Patriotic War Vasily Chuikov, who is buried on Mamayev Kurgan. Vasily Chuikov is a legendary Soviet military commander of the Great Patriotic War, the hero of the Battle of Stalingrad. He commanded the troops that participated in the liberation of Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and the storming of Berlin.

How Moscow and Minsk will fight the revival of Nazism

After visiting Mamayev Kurgan, the Presidents of Russia and Belarus headed to the international forum of the Union State "Great Heritage – Common Future", which started in Volgograd the day before and was dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.

It seemed that all the emotions from what they saw on Mamayev Kurgan were transferred by the presidents to the plenary session of the forum. Putin once again admired the steadfastness and courage of the Red Army soldiers, as well as the unity of the multinational Soviet people. Lukashenko thanked his colleague for the opportunity to see Mamayev Kurgan again. "It's an impressive place, it's impossible here without trembling," he said at a bilateral meeting.

The leaders discussed how important it is to honor the memory of the defenders of the city. "They stood to the death, just like the heroes of the Brest Fortress, the defense of Minsk, Leningrad, Sevastopol, and our other cities and borders," Vladimir Putin said.

— It is symbolic that the forum is taking place in the hero city, where the fate of the whole world was really decided. <...> On the Volga shores, the enemy was stopped and defeated. A decisive blow was dealt to the Nazi war machine, a fundamental turning point in the war was secured, and the road to the West, to Berlin, to the Great Victory, the 80th anniversary of which we will solemnly celebrate very soon - on May 9," the Russian president added.

He proposed to create a commission for the preservation of historical memory at the Parliamentary Assembly of Russia and Belarus to protect the truth about the Great Patriotic War. By the way, the Russian Federation has accumulated a wealth of experience in this field: in recent years, more than ten federal laws on historical and memorial subjects have been adopted.

Special attention in the work of such a commission should be paid to the creation of common digital archives and databases about the dead, the development of projects to restore family history, the organization of children's and youth tourism to places of military glory, said State Duma deputy, chairman of the Volunteers of Victory Olga Zanko.

— Such projects will not only preserve the historical truth, but also allow the younger generations of Russia and Belarus to study our common heroic history together. Piskarevskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg and Khatyn in the Republic of Belarus, Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd and Brest Fortress are places of our common memory and sorrow, which should become part of such educational projects," she told Izvestia.

And, of course, an important task is to monitor the facts of falsification of history and work together to refute false information, the politician stressed.

Alexander Lukashenko devoted almost his entire speech at the forum to the same topic. He said that today the West is trying to erase the memory of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, discredit the Red Army and whitewash the Nazi criminals. For example, in neighboring Poland they claim that Auschwitz was liberated by American troops, the Belarusian leader was indignant.

— Western experts on Belarusian history, on our Soviet, Russian, and Russian history write that we talk too pathetically about our heroes, exaggerating the scale of their feat. We are hinted that we should also talk about our bad ones. And don't forget about the good Germans. They teach us pseudo-objectivity from across the ocean," Lukashenko said.

Putin again called for the creation of a new architecture of equal and indivisible security in the world that would protect some countries without prejudice to others. At the same time, the main lesson of the Great Patriotic War should remain the idea of the inadmissibility of the revival of Nazism.

"Everything must be done to resist the resurgence of Nazism, the spread of destructive ideologies of Russophobia, anti—Semitism, any form of racism, national or religious intolerance, the so—called exclusivity, behind which lie claims to world domination, attempts to pressure or interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states," the Russian president said.

Existing multilateral forms of cooperation, such as the Union State, the CSTO, the CIS, as well as the SCO, BRICS and ASEAN, could form the basis for creating such an architecture, he believes.

Development of the aviation industry

The heads of state also held a separate meeting and, as they say, checked their watches on some issues. In particular, they touched upon the trade and economic sphere, where the result, according to the estimates of the President of the Russian Federation, is "simply outstanding" — over $50 billion. We also discussed the industrial cooperation between Moscow and Minsk.

— We have agreed that we will expand this industrial cooperation, including through joint work in the field of aircraft construction and the aviation industry. I want to tell you what suggestions there are here. We are ready to establish a factory together with your specialists and a corresponding laboratory for drones. This is very important, first of all, for the economy and for logistics," Vladimir Putin said.

He also noted: The countries have agreements on joint activities in the field of aircraft construction. "There is something to work on, both a small aircraft and cooperation on medium—range aircraft," he said.

A part of the aviation industry has indeed been preserved in Belarus, Andrei Kopyt, head of the Supreme Coordinating Council of the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship Union, told Izvestia.

— I must say that some of our companies are already assembling individual components for the Osvey aircraft, which is being made within the framework of the joint Union State by our specialists. But the opening of the plant is likely to be agreed upon by the two leaders in the near future, and it may be built on the territory of the Republic of Belarus," Andrei Kopyt concluded.

According to his estimates, the development of drones will help the Union State achieve technological leadership.