MOSCOW, May 3 (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Saturday that President Donald Trump's assertion that the U.S. had done more than any other country to win World War Two was "pretentious nonsense".
Trump posted on social network Truth Social late on Thursday that "nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance" in both world wars, and that "we did more than any other country, by far, in producing a victorious result in World War II."
Medvedev, a former Russian president who has emerged as one of Moscow's most outspoken anti-Western hawks since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine, made his own statement at a time when Washington and Moscow are trying to reset their troubled ties while discussing a possible way to end the conflict.
"Trump recently announced that the U.S. made the biggest contribution to victory in World War Two and that he will introduce a special holiday on May 8. A holiday is not a bad thing, but his first statement is pretentious nonsense," Medvedev said in a post on the VK social network.
"Our people sacrificed 27 million lives of their sons and daughters in the name of destroying accursed fascism (nazism) Therefore, Victory Day is ours and it is May 9! So it was, so it is, so it will always be!" wrote Medvedev. Reporting by Reuters Editing by Andrew Osborn
Getting your people killed,is not a good war winning strategy.
Killing the enemy is....
Dying for your country,is not as good as making the other SOB die for his country.
There are different types of war and you do not always get a choice as to which one you will participate in.
It was a war for extinction for the Russians. The others wouldn't have received the same fate from Germany. I can understand their position.
But doesn't change my mind that we fought the wrong enemy.
Yes, General Patton had a good point.
Everyone talks about Der Führer as if he was the worst person ever but, strangely, they seem able to skip over Uncle Joe. And Chairman Mao.
Joe Biden?
I was actually thinking about Joseph Stalin but you are close enough!
Thank you. Well done. We were not all fighting the same war.
But the Russians still needed to be bitch-slapped over the Lipizzaners (Royal Hungarian Lines).
Thank you General Patton and Operation Cowboy.
Kurt Kispal and Hartman for the germans.
Probably Abrams for the allies,but they didn't keep score and it was Richard bong from powers Wisconsin
Their were many other German hot pilots who died.
I would argue that Rudel was the best/most successful pilot of the war. Destroying tanks is the equivalent of destroying planes in my book.
Many were civilians.
Yes, that doesn't help win wars either.
Uh, folks...the civilians were the victims of the Germans. Stalingrad was besieged, but was producing tanks with which to fight their besiegers. Who produced the tanks? Civilians.
Their was no difference between civilians and army troops,they just rounded up people as the needed them and as the army moved west.
Getting your people killed,is not a point to Brag on. The russians didn't care much how many of their people died.
Really? Where would one find such testimony from a Russian in those times? One might suppose that those who suffered under the German conquest were motivated for revenge. Or, regarding concern for casualties, were they any worse than the U.S. government during the Vietnam War?
You mistake an objection to U.S. bragging to be based on counter-bragging. It was an objection by raising the issue of who made a greater terrible sacrifice Nevertheless, the only reason we had an edge on Germany was because the Russians were demolishing them on the Eastern Front, over vast territory and horrendous battles.
Britain did evacuate their children to Canada, Aussie and NZ, not forgetting Dunkirk...
You mean the Soviets.
Yes they were running russia at the time.
The only thing I’m sure about is POTUS doesn’t do or say random things. He always has a target, he’s always trying to provoke moves and countermoves. Seems like the Russians took the bait.
One thing is for sure in both wars. Having an industrial base untouched by the ravages of war was a tremendous advantage, maybe even the deciding factor.
The U.S. produced and provided Studebaker trucks for the Russian Army to transport its troops. They are mentioned by name in Solzhenitsyn's "Prussian Nights" poem. We also provided them Bell P-39 fighter-bombers, which they learned to use with good effect.
Medvedev is playing the counter here. He should be on his knees for the lend lease. The amount of shit the Soviets got, allowed them to survive Stalingrad (1942) and Kursk (1943).
The reason for it? The Soviets were incapable of creating and producing advance explosives, engines, tanks and planes, and parts. It was an industrial backwater, thanks to Stalin's Purges.
When looking at the fighting quality of the soldiers: i.e: German vs Soviet, German vs American, German Soldiers were topnotch.
The fact that they eventually ended up in Berlin could not have been done without the vast material support the US provided. It sure is a miracle.
Kursk was interesting, they were forewarned of the blitzkreig against them and built defences in depth in time for the attack. Their tanks ruined the German tanks but the Germans shot the Soviet aircraft out of the sky, a kill ration of around 70 to 1 thanks to superior aircraft.
Every country at war exaggerates, the first casualty of war is?
The German soldiers were not told they were fighting subhumans, here is a guidebook produced for the invasion telling the soldiers how to behave and communicate with Russian civilians. https://gofile.io/d/dkFDLM
Lend-lease was a contract between the Brits and the USA in 1940-41. The Brits got some obsolete warships, mainly 4 stack destroyers in exchange for some Brit Caribbean ports and harbours.
The material was given to Russia, not lent.
Medvedev is right. Why did POTUS say such obvious lies? Optics maybe, disinfo probably, but still complete nonsense.
Victory day is 14th August for starters and the vital theater of war was the Battle of the North Atlantic. Everything hinged on that.
It was won by the RN, USN and the RCN along with the Polish, Free French and the Merchant Navy and Merchant Marine using tactics developed by Walker RN.