156,000 Allied soldiers stormed on 6. June 1944 the Wehrmacht positions in the Normandie – less than a year later, the Third Reich capitulated. When this day turns into a few weeks from now eightieth time anniversary, the commemoration ceremony will take place without the Russian president Wladimir Putin take place. The French organizers do not invite him: “The Russian Federation has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than two years, which France strongly condemns. Given these circumstances, President Putin will not be invited to take part in the commemorations of the Normandy landings,” the state organization said.
27 million dead Soviet citizens
However, official Russia should be invited “so that the significance of the commitment and sacrifices of the Soviet people and their contribution to the Victory of 1945 be appreciated.” During the Second World War, more than 27 million Soviet citizens lost their lives, including 8.7 million soldiers.
Every year around June 6th, numerous events to commemorate D-Day take place in Normandy, and every five years the anniversaries are celebrated with international commemorative events.
In 2014 – on the occasion of the 70th anniversary – Putin was still invited. And this despite the fact that a few months earlier he had annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in violation of international law.
At the time, then-French President Francois Hollande said: “You can have disagreements with Vladimir Putin, but I have never forgotten and will never forget that the Russian people gave millions of lives.”
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the tone between France and Russia has worsened. Emmanuel Macron has been using tough rhetoric against the Kremlin since February – at least in words – and even brought French ground troops into play in Ukraine. How much of this is Macron’s rhetorical banter remains to be seen.
Russia commented on the matter on Wednesday and emphasized that it had not yet been invited by France to the commemorations. “So far we have not received any confirmation through diplomatic channels,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.