Two Russian soldiers appeared to wish Hitler happy birthday in a disturbing Telegram post uploaded this week.
An image shared on the social media site appeared to show two soldiers posing in front of a military vehicle stamped with the letter ‘Z’, a symbol of war used by Russia amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine. One man’s face was covered by a balaclava while another grinned from ear to ear. Both men were toting large guns and hailed Hitler as ‘a comrade and friend’.
While Hitler wasn’t named directly in the lengthy caption that accompanied the image, the number 88 could be seen on the windscreen of the soldiers’ truck.
88 is a white supremacist numerical code which stands for ‘heil Hitler’ and their message was shared on what would have been the Nazi dictator’s 133rd birthday.
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A translation of the message shared on pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Govorit TopaZ - which has more than 66,000 subscribers - read: “Today is the birthday of our colleague and friend, who has become an example for many of us, despite his advanced age.
“He taught us to love our homeland and never be afraid of the enemy, no matter how strong the enemy is. He taught us to fight for the ancestral lands that historically belong to our people.”
It continued: “And despite the fact that he is no longer with us, his work and word lives in our hearts and inspires us to beat the Bolshevik scum and multiply the glory of great Russia!”
One of the reasons Putin gave for launching his brutal attack on Ukraine on 24 February was that he wanted to rid the country of ‘neo-Nazis’.
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Addressing Ukraine in February, Putin said: “Once again I speak to the Ukrainian soldiers. Do not allow neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, your wives and the elderly as a human shield. Take power into your own hands.
"It seems that it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis.”
Putin’s speech was bizarre for many reasons, but one of the most notable is the fact that he himself has been supportive of neo-Nazis for some time.
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The Wagner Group - Russian mercenaries named after Hitler’s favourite composer, Richard Wagner - helped Putin’s fighters illegally annex Crimea in 2014 and have since fought alongside pro-Russia separatists in the country.
Sickeningly, Dmitry Utkin, the group’s leader, has Nazi tattoos which are said to include a swastika and Nazi eagle.
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Aisha Nozari