Vladimir Putin compared his battle on Ukraine to the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in a fiery speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad.

thought to be the bloodiest in historical past, the 5-month struggle proved an enormous turning element within the Second International Struggle, with Hitler’s troops pressured into a humiliating retreat.

It has deep resonance in brand new Russia and continues to be an incredible supply of pride.

Speaking in the comparable town, which has been referred to as Volgograd when you consider that 1961, the Russian president stated ‘the ideology of Nazism, in its up to date guise again poses direct threats to the protection of our u . s .’.

He informed an audience of military officers and participants of local patriotic and early life groups: ‘Once More and once more we’ve got to repel the aggression of the collective West.

‘It’s unbelievable nevertheless it’s a truth: we are once more being threatened with German Leopard tanks with crosses on them.’