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Ehh... This certainly is a difficult subject. I mostly like Putin's quote "The Western allies didn’t abound with any special humanity, it’s incomprehensible to me to this day why Dresden was destroyed. There was no military reason for it."

The only "military reason" for the firebombing was to destroy German morale. Dresden was a city of deep historical value and little military importance- the Western allies leveled it as a direct (mainly psychological) attack on the citizens of Nazi Germany.

It's important to note that the city was quite leveled-

24,866/28,410 houses in the inner city of Dresden destroyed. An area completely destroyed: 14,000 homes, 72 schools, 22 hospitals, 19 churches, 5 theaters, 50 bank and insurance companies, 31 department stores, 31 large hotels, and 62 administration buildings. 222,000 apartments in the city- 75,000 of them totally destroyed, 11,000 severely damaged, 7,000 damaged, 81,000 slightly damaged.

So yeah, I think we did mean to kill civilians just fine.

Another somewhat important factor to observe- it's entirely unfair and irrational to ask Putin to explain massacres caused by a legendary tyrant, let alone one from an earlier political system.

It's unfair to Putin!?

He's clearly using this to kiss up to a sick trend in Germany and express his resentment against the Baltic refusal to celebrate the end of WW2. He is also affirming his support for revisionism in Russia.

Welcome to Free Republic.

Except when he praises the man and laments the change in said system. Oh and incidentally, the Russians requested the bombing of Dresden. The specific request was for the western allies to "By air action on communications hinder the enemy from carrying out the shifting of his troops to the East from the Western Front". That is the request that put the city on the target list, as a rail center.

I mostly like Putin's quote "The Western allies didn’t abound with any special humanity, it’s incomprehensible to me to this day why Dresden was destroyed. There was no military reason for it."

Ahhh, yes...those mean old "Western allies" who did nothing more than liberate half the world from the Nazis & Japanese Imperialism: not much "special humanity" in doing that, I guess. And Putin's Russia, which started the war as Hitler's ally, was such a shining exemplar of "special humanity" from 1917 to 1989...

Get real.

24,866/28,410 houses in the inner city of Dresden destroyed. An area completely destroyed: 14,000 homes, 72 schools, 22 hospitals, 19 churches, 5 theaters, 50 bank and insurance companies, 31 department stores, 31 large hotels, and 62 administration buildings. 222,000 apartments in the city- 75,000 of them totally destroyed, 11,000 severely damaged, 7,000 damaged, 81,000 slightly damaged

It's called waging TOTAL WAR, aka, "fighting to win." It was completely justifiable within any context of World War II one might wish to examine. Period.

>>it's entirely unfair and irrational to ask Putin to explain massacres caused by a legendary tyrant, let alone one from an earlier political system.

Let's not overlook the fact that Putin once held a high position within that political system.

“Another somewhat important factor to observe- it's entirely unfair and irrational to ask Putin to explain massacres caused by a legendary tyrant, let alone one from an earlier political system.”

Phew.