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Speaking at a Candle of Remembrance commemoration at the Russian embassy in Washington, Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiev said the Soviet people won the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War because they were "stronger in spirit" and fought for the right "to live freely and determine their own destiny sovereignly." He also declared that the Russian Armed Forces will defeat the "new incarnation of Nazism in Europe" as a result of the special military operation.

Coverage comparison

The event, held in the embassy's grand Georgievsky Hall, marked the Day of Remembrance and Sorrow, observed annually in Russia on June 22. According to reports from TASS, Darchiev addressed participants at exactly 9:00 p.m. local time (4:00 a.m. Tuesday Moscow time), the hour of Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. Those present included diplomats, their family members, and invited compatriots.

Darchiev's remarks blended commemoration of the Soviet wartime dead with a warning about contemporary Europe. He paid tribute to those who perished on June 22, 1941, and to the Soviet people's resistance to the Nazi invasion, while also asserting that Nazism is resurgent in Europe today.

Key claims

  • Darchiev said the Soviet people won the war because they were "stronger in spirit" and fought for the right to live freely and determine their own destiny sovereignly, as reported by TASS.
  • He referenced the Soviet Union's Victory over Nazi Germany, calling Russians "heirs to the Great Victory," according to TASS.
  • Darchiev stated that "Nazism is resurgent in Europe today," pointing to "reckless figures in Germany" who, he said, having forgotten the lessons of history, dream of a "Fourth Reich" and a new march eastward.
  • He expressed confidence that "Nazism in its new incarnation will be crushed as a result of the special military operation, and victory will be ours."
  • The ambassador noted that from the first minutes of the invasion, the enemy encountered "heroic and relentless resistance from the Red Army and the entire Soviet people," who "did not kneel but fought to the end, to the last cartridge and the last drop of blood, like the legendary defenders of the Brest Fortress."