Putin slams ‘neo-Nazi’ Ukrainians for demolishing Soviet WWII monuments
Radical Ukrainians are idiots for targeting Soviet monuments to World War II heroes, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
This behavior alone “gives us reasons to say that these people have a neo-Nazi ideology,” he stated during a visit to Kursk Region, which borders Ukraine, on Tuesday.
”If they participated in a competition for idiots, they would have finished in second place. Why? Because they are idiots,” he added, paraphrasing a popular joke. “By doing what they are doing, they show their nature.”
Last August, Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into border areas of Kursk Region, which Kiev claimed was intended to seize territory as leverage in eventual peace negotiations. The Russian military reported the full liberation of the area in late April.
Putin’s visit — made public only on Wednesday — was his first to the region since the Ukrainian operation. He toured the site of a nuclear power plant that Kiev’s troops had unsuccessfully attempted to capture, inspected its ongoing expansion, and met with volunteers who helped repel the attack.
Following a Western-backed coup in 2014, Kiev launched a policy of “decommunization,” renaming streets and communities to erase Soviet-era heritage. It also dismantled statues and memorials dedicated to the Red Army’s role in liberating Ukraine during WWII.
After the conflict escalated in February 2022, the practice expanded to include landmarks associated with Russian history more broadly — such as the removal of a statue of 19th-century poet Alexander Pushkin in Odessa, a city designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Ukrainian government continues to glorify historical figures who opposed Russia for any reason, including members of nationalist militias who collaborated with Nazi Germany and committed atrocities during WWII.
Moscow maintains that neo-Nazi ideology and symbolism are prevalent among radical Ukrainian nationalists. “De-Nazification” remains one of Russia’s stated goals in the ongoing conflict.
