Putin, Stalingrad & Ukraine…

On the 2^nd of February 1943, the most brutal battle of WW2 ended in Stalingrad. 80 years later, a new war is taking place: the fight for Ukraine. Vladimir Putin the Russian President made a direct link between The Battle of Stalingrad and the war in Ukraine when he attended the commemorations earlier this year. Marking the event in Volgograd Putin explained “It’s unbelievable but true. We are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks,” he said in the southern city. “Again and again we are forced to repel the aggression of the collective west.” 

These two events have been linked by Putin himself, but just how related are they?

Both conflicts have had an enormous impact on the world, they have many differences, but are there still links? The Battle of Stalingrad was fought for the defence and glory of the USSR, in a huge attempt to prevent world domination by Nazi Germany. 

There have been many disputes between Ukraine and Russia in the past decade, but after many attempts by Russia to gain control over Ukraine, it exploded into violence in the early days of 2022. 

Russia quickly swept through the Eastern regions of Ukraine and entered Kyiv within a few weeks. There have been many theories behind the motive of the invasion, yet a popular view is that Putin seeks restoration of the USSR. The Russian government justified their offensive actions in a statement announcing their plans to “denazify” Ukraine. 

Stalingrad was a purely defensive effort to turn the tide of the war against Nazi Germany, whereas the fight for Ukraine is a direct invasion for control over the ethnic Russian peoples within Ukraine. Stalingrad was also a single battle within a larger war and was fought for very different reasons against the aggression of Hitler’s Germany.

By Max & Austin Yr8

Carre’s Grammar School, Sleaford

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