Putin invokes Stalingrad battle as justifying Ukraine fight

By JIM HEINTZ
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has marked the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi forces in the battle of Stalingrad, and evoked the long and grueling fight as justification for the conflict in Ukraine. Putin laid a wreath Thursday at a memorial to the fallen Red Army soldiers in Volgograd, the current name of the city. The memorial is dominated by an 85-meter (279-foot) sculpture of a sword-wielding woman. Afterwards, Putin said: “Now, regrettably, we see that the ideology of Nazism, in its modern guise … once again poses direct threats to the security of our country.” Putin and other Russian officials frequently characterize Ukraine as a hotbed of neo-Nazi beliefs. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is of Jewish descent.