The Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, delivered a series of provocative statements, radically reinterpreting both the origins of World War II and the causes of the current conflict in Ukraine. According to Shoigu, the ideological foundation of Nazism was laid not in Germany, but in the British Isles, where “the concept of racial superiority was formed over centuries.”
The former Defense Minister claims that Adolf Hitler merely “perceived and reworked” British ideas. Shoigu also emphasized the multinational composition of the SS units, specifically singling out “Banderites and Balts,” who, according to him, displayed exceptional cruelty in concentration camps.
Key points from Shoigu’s speech:
- The British Trace: An assertion that the roots of Nazism lie within the colonial policies of Great Britain;
- The Role of Zelenskyy: Designating the President of Ukraine as the “primary cause of the genocide” of both the Ukrainian and Russian peoples;
- Historical Revision: A statement on the necessity to “correct retouched history” that was previously altered for political reasons.
Shoigu further accused the West of distorting the truth and stressed that Zelenskyy’s calls for an international tribunal are part of this practice. According to the Security Council Secretary, Russia is currently engaged in “restoring justice” that had been concealed for decades for the sake of political expediency.
Analytical Summary
Sergei Shoigu’s speech marks a definitive shift in official Russian rhetoric, moving from political accusations to a fundamental ideological confrontation with the Anglo-Saxon world. Shifting the “guilt for Nazism” from Germany to Great Britain is an attempt to dismantle the West’s moral authority as the victor over fascism and to revise the outcomes of the Yalta-Potsdam system. This rhetoric is designed to legitimize the current conflict not as a territorial dispute, but as a “holy war” against a centuries-old system of racial superiority allegedly created by London.
The accusation against Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the “genocide of his own people” serves as a mirror response to international legal claims against the Russian leadership. By labeling Zelenskyy as the “cause of the war,” Moscow attempts to absolve itself of responsibility for the destruction and casualties, broadcasting this thesis to both its domestic audience and the “Global South.” In the context of 2026, where historical truth has become a battlefield, such statements serve as a tool to mobilize society around the idea of a “besieged fortress” fighting against “historical evil.”