Posted on 02/03/2018 4:21:36 AM PST by beaversmom
A military parade took place in the city - now called Volgograd - where about 1.1m Soviet troops and 800,000 Nazi German and Romanian troops died.
The 1942-43 battle was a turning-point, halting the Nazi advance in Russia.
Mr Putin, campaigning for re-election, told battle veterans that they symbolised "love for the motherland".
He is seeking a fourth presidential term in elections next month, and opinion polls suggest that he has overwhelming support.
It is 75 years since the Soviet victory at Stalingrad and Mr Putin has appealed to the patriotic feelings of Russians ahead of the elections, reminding them of wartime sacrifices.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Compare to 418,500 U.S fatalities in World War 2.
The Soviet victory at Stalingrad is one of the most remarkable events in all of military history.
Growing up during the cold war, I did not learn nearly enough about it.
Putin is a true patriot who loves his country.
Him respecting his nations glorious war dead seems surprising to our media as before Trump we hadn’t had a patriot as President for nearly 30 years
The defenders of Stalingrad deserve our respect.
It’s hard to argue with the facts
They deserved better leadership.
At least Stalin didn’t execute the Heroes of Stalingrad after the war.
The same cannot be said about Leningrad.
I’m amazed that there are still survivors of the Siege of Stalingrad. The battle was brutal beyond belief for both sides. I wonder if there are any German survivors of the battle as most of them were marched ruthlessly to Siberia.
I heard only about 5000 of the captured Stalingrad prisoners ever made it back to Germany.
Of the 500,00 that surrendered something like on 50,000 returned. Remember is was only Germans that were cut off in the 6th Army. There were also Romanians, Hungarians, and Italians. I wonder how many of them got home.
Also was it something like 1956 that Axis POWs were finally repatriated from the Soviet Union. I do remember in some 1970s era Congressional hearing (I think on Cuban relations!) where witness claimed there were WW II German POWs still held and working as slaves in the Cuba.
I figured the Russians would have died of laughter when they came across the Italian troops.
Someone should post some photos of the monumental Mother Russia Monument at Volgograd. Ditto, the statue of the Russian soldier with the PPSh. I would but don’t know how. Long live the memory of General Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov and the 62nd Army!
Since you asked. The photo fails to give an idea of just how large the statue is in real life.
We were victorious in WWII only because the Socialists (The Soviet and the Germans were both countries of avowed Socialism) bled each other to death. Horrific waste on a massive scale.
Looks amazing.
Not the largest, but very large in real life
Holy cow.
Stalingrad should be an adjective for meat grinder.
That is increible. Would love to see it.
*incredible
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