Putin says state destabilisation begins with history distortion

Russian president vows to shield Russian history from distortion through falsification and misinterpretation

MOSCOW:

In many nations, including Ukraine, the scenario of state destabilisation through the undermining of basic values, falsification, and misinterpretation of history has been put into practice, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, who promised on Tuesday to put a "barrier to them in time and firmly enough to defend our interests."

In many ways, the destabilisation of states and peoples begins with the “distortion of history, the planting of myths, the erosion of values," Putin said at a meeting of the Victory Organising Committee meeting in Moscow.

He added that currently attempts to rewrite world history are becoming more aggressive, with an obvious goal of dividing people, depriving them of role models, and ultimately weakening them.

Putin noted that the scenario of state destabilisation through undermining basic values, falsification, and misinterpretation of history has been implemented in many countries, including Ukraine.

"There were attempts to do the same with our country, with Russia," he said, adding that however, “as I have already said, we put a barrier to them in time and firmly enough to defend our interests".

However, in order to withstand such attempts, Russia continues to preserve memorials, perpetuating historic memory, including the genocide of the Soviet people by Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, he noted.