UN General Secretary Calls Russia an Exceptional Nation; Commemorates Defeat of Nazi Germany
The UN recalled the terrible events of World War II today. An exhibition dedicated to the victory over fascism opened at the headquarter of the UN. Nine countries of the former USSR presented stands on the role of each country in this war. The Soviet Union's contribution to victory was recognized by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Antonio Guterres: "I believe that we all need to remind ourselves about the lessons of the Second World War, which became the Great Patriotic War for the Soviet Union. It led to absolutely unimaginable, devastating destruction in the world. I think we should pay tribute to the fact that the greatest efforts to fight Nazism were made by the Soviet Union. In addition, the Soviet Union suffered the biggest losses, especially human losses, in order to defeat Nazism".
28 million Soviet citizens died in the war to defeat fascism. The Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, mentioned these terrible figures. He noted that, for Russians, this holiday is always "tear-filled".
Vasily Nebenzia: "Today, we remember our fathers and grandfathers. I'm not an exception. I pay tribute to my three uncles who died in the war and to my father, who was able to survive. He went to war when he was 17 years old. He added himself one year to get to the front. He witnessed the victory in Berlin when he was 21 years old. This is difficult to imagine now".