We will remember them

by New Worker correspondent

On Tuesday 27 January Russian diplomats together with Russian ex-pats living in the United Kingdom laid a wreath and flowers at the Soviet War Memorial at the Imperial War Museum in south London to mark the 82nd anniversary of the lifting of the Nazi siege of Leningrad.
Members of the Russian community in Manchester also held a flower-laying ceremony at a plaque unveiled in 2020 in honoured memory of the Soviet soldiers who gave their lives liberating Europe in the Second World War and in recognition of the brave people of the besieged Leningrad.
On the eve of this date, the Russian diplomatic mission's staff conveyed the greetings of the Governor of St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) Alexander Beglov to the veterans of the Great Patriotic War as it is known in Russian who currently live in the UK.
The Nazi German blockade of the city stands as one of the most tragic yet heroic chapters in the history of the Soviet Union. It lasted from 8th September 1941 to 27th January 1944 – 872 days of extreme hardship, hunger and deprivation. Historians estimate that no more than 800,000 of the three million inhabitants of Leningrad and its surrounding areas survived the siege.
The feat of Leningraders has become a symbol of unbreakable will, courage and self-sacrifice. The memory of those who died in the blockade will remain in the hearts of the Russian people forever.

Stop the War in Ukraine!

 By New Worker correspondent

Comrades joined other campaigners in London for a Stop the War rally at Hamilton House last weekend that brought together a number of British and international speakers under the banner of ‘Stop The War In Ukraine’.
    Stop the War (StW) has been on a journey over the last year where their position on the Russian intervention in Ukraine has gradually changed, partly under pressure from members, from a position that wasn’t very different to the Government and the mainstream media, to now, where the only call at Saturday’s meeting was to end the war.
    Having attended many StW events in that time, Saturday was also notable for the absence of any assertions that Russia is an imperialist state.
    Kate Hudson from CND spoke on the increasing militarisation of the region, where states are dramatically increasing their military budgets, and the increased danger this causes. Also the depleted uranium shells, which the UK proposes to send to Ukraine, will escalate the conflict, cause long term damage to the people of Ukraine, and increase the risk of further British involvement in the war. CND has arranged a protest at RAF Lakenheath on 20th May against US nuclear weapons being stationed in Britain, and asks all who can to attend.
    Next up was the rapper and activist Lowkey, who always presents lots of complex information in very accessible form. He touched on the same themes as Kate, on the birth defects still happening in Fallujah, due to the use of depleted uranium 20 years ago during the American occupation of Iraq.
    His other theme was how for some companies, war is good for business. He spoke of the four main US defence contractors who have doubled their profits in the last year, and of the endemic corruption, giving the example of defence secretary Ben Wallace who was previously director of weapons company QinetiQ.
    QinetiQ has received hundreds of millions of pounds in contracts since the start of the conflict, and is so entwined with power that a QinetiQ director, Gordon Messenger was appointed to head a review into the NHS, surely a conflict of interest as the company has expressed interest in gaining NHS contracts.
    Lowkey finished by warning about the media. “The same people who lied to us about WMDs in Iraq are the same people lying to us about the war in Ukraine. They are the very same people in the media and in the government”.
    Sevim Dağdelen, a German MP from Die Linke (The Left party) spoke of her experience of opposing the war inside the German parliament, and how the anti-war campaigners are routinely smeared as puppets of Putin, or connected to the far-right – both untrue. She spoke strongly on how NATO and the US are the main danger to world peace, and our duty to oppose them.
    “While people are dying in Ukraine, arms companies are making billions increasing their profits by 11.5 per cent. It is our responsibility to stand up to the warmongers in our governments and end this escalating spiral of war”.
    Irish MEP Clare Daly has become one of the voices and faces of opposition to escalation and war mongering and she had a great reception. She spoke from her perspective of the changes since February 2022, where only a few MEPs spoke against NATO and EU escalation, to now where more are openly opposing the war. She said any opposition to the drive to war is delegitimised, in a conflict that has seen what she described as ‘unprecedented censorship’ where the only view we have on the conflict is through government press releases.
    She spoke of the numbers of people who contact her every day, saying they agree with everything she and fellow MEP Mick Wallace say, but they are scared to say it themselves.‘War can never be stopped by war. It can only be stopped by peace. We are in a majority but we are silenced by the establishment because they fear the power of this movement against war.’
    This was a good meeting, and StW are to be commended for organising. But there was no Q&A session after the speakers, and some people wondered who the organisers were more worried about, the members from the floor, or the platform speakers?

Free all Ukrainian political prisoners!

by Theo Russell

London comrades returned to Whitehall on Saturday to bring the crimes of the Ukrainian government to the attention of the British people. Some 30 protesters joined the picket opposite Downing Street organised by the International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) campaign, to let the people “know that the regime in Ukraine, to which the British Government has given billions of pounds in financial and military support, has been committing horrific crimes against its own people, including Russian speakers, opposition activists and campaigners, journalists and Roma people, under the cover of accusing them of treason”.
    A IUAFS spokesman said: “Several mayors in eastern Ukraine have been summarily executed as well as local elected civilian officials for "crimes" such as negotiating humanitarian corridors with the Russian military. They should have been entitled to a due process of law, instead of being tortured, shot, and then dumped in the street.
    “Hundreds of journalists, bloggers, politicians, elected representatives, activists, priests, sportspeople, and even Ukrainian negotiators and military officers have been arrested and beaten, and some tortured or murdered. Most were charged with treason simply for opposing Kiev's policies, and not brought to trial after many months.
    “Alexander Matyuschenko, one of dozens of leftists arrested in Dnipro, central Ukraine, was an activist with the Livizta (Left) organisation, which campaigned against social spending cuts and right-wing propaganda. He was arrested by SBU (Ukrainian intelligence) and Azov members, tortured and forced to shout the nationalist salute, Slava Ukraini!, while his wife's hair was cut off with a knife.

NCP leader Andy Brooks

    "One of Ukraine’s most prominent human rights activists is Elena Berezhnaya, Director of the Institute of Legal Policy and Social Protection, who has spoken before the UN Security Council. She was arrested in March 2022 in Kiev. There has been no news of her since.
    "We know about these crimes because Ukrainian ultra-rightists and even regular soldiers have bragged about them in social media posts, including one of a Russian soldier who had one of his eyes gouged before he was killed, with the caption 'One-eyed captured Russian pig'.
    "We think it is essential to speak out about the actions of a government for whom the British government seems to have unlimited resources to support, at a time when millions here in Britain are facing a grim and uncertain future and our basic public services are chronically underfunded and understaffed”.
    During the protest a woman waiving the flag of the Donetsk people’s republic was attacked by a reactionary, believed to be from the Caucasian republic of Georgia. But he was dragged away by a policewoman supported by an Iranian who left a nearby protest to chivalrously intervene on the picketer’s behalf.
    Towards the end of the protest the demonstrators came under a torrent of abuse from a small group of Ukrainian and English supporters of the Nazi-infested regime in Kiev. They were, however, speedily warned off by the police.
    The protest was supported by the Consistent Democrats, CPGB (ML), New Communist Party, Socialist Labour Party, Socialist Fight and the Posadists in Britain. Solidarity messages were received from former Labour MP Chris Williamson who is now a leading member of the Socialist Labour Party, Phil Wilayto of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign in the United States, and Leonid Ilderkin from the Union of Political Refugees and Political Prisoners of Ukraine, who has recently moved back to Ukraine.

• Skwarkbox report
• La Lucha (USA) report

What freedom of speech really means

When the chips are down not much if the latest saga involving George Galloway is anything to go by. The maverick Scottish politician who has been elected to Parliament six times – starting with Labour and then on independent platforms – is known throughout the labour movement for his support of the Cuban and Palestinian people and his defence of Iraq when it was invaded by US-led imperialism.
    A master of the media Galloway was sacked by talkRADIO after sending an allegedly anti-Semitic tweet about Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham in the Champions League final in 2019. But he stayed in the limelight broadcasting on the international services of the Russian and Iranian media, and championing a variety of causes including the party he now leads – the Workers Party of Britain.
    Galloway has learned to live with the wrath of the Zionists and Blairites. His politics have fired the anger of cranks and fanatics – he was even attacked in the street during the Gaza war in 2014. But he’s never faced a concerted effort to prevent him from arguing his corner for good or bad on the streets and at public meetings up and down the country. Until now…
    Galloway clearly crossed a Rubicon when he embraced the cause of the people of the Donbas. And when he launched his NO2NATO NO2WARS movement the hidden hand went into action to stop it getting off the ground.
    Speakers included Galloway and former Labour MP Chris Williamson, along with two Irish Members of the European Parliament and a number of other campaigners and journalists. Attempts to hold mass meetings in London have been sabotaged after St Pancras New Church and the Conway Hall cancelled bookings for his new campaign. Conway Hall says it had been subjected to unprecedented harassment – including a barrage of “intimidating emails and social media posts” which meant that “Conway Hall can no longer host your event as we are now unable to ensure the safety of our building and our staff on and offline”.
    Williamson has joined Galloway in denouncing the “anti-democratic cancel culture” that’s being used to silence opposition to Nato. He accused “erstwhile liberals” of being complicit in a state crackdown on anti-Establishment views.
    This is something new. We never saw this when British forces were actually fighting during the Falklands conflict and the Yugoslav, Iraqi and Afghan wars. So why now?
It’s clearly because the ruling class are afraid of anything that challenges the American narrative on Ukraine.
    Galloway’s party puts it another way. Conjuring up the spirit of Chairman Mao they say “it is good if we are attacked by the warmongers and their online trolls, since it proves that we have drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves. The trolls attack us wildly, threaten the venues and harass staff, they paint us as utterly black and without a single virtue; it demonstrates that we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between them and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our work.
    “Our slogan, “No to Nato, No to War” is more widely known and understood than before, more people buy tickets and await the announcement of the next venue. Other events purporting to speak against the war are allowed to go ahead in peace, precisely because they do not challenge the imperialist narrative that the Ukraine conflict began just 1 year ago. This is a lie, and one we are exposing”.
    This we would wholeheartedly agree.

Donbas solidarity at Stop the War

Salma Yaqoob addresses conference

by New Worker correspondent

Donbas solidarity activists were at the Stop the War trade union conference last Saturday to leaflet the meeting and intervene during the debate in the hall. The latest leaflet of the International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity movement was handed out at the doors in support of the just struggle of the people of the Donbas for freedom and self-determination.
    But the main focus of this conference was on building a bigger peace movement and working to reverse the TUC’s decision last year to support increased arms spending.
    Many speakers, like the Italian worker talking about the Genoese dockers’ efforts to stop arms going to Israel and Saudi Arabia never even mentioned Ukraine. Those that did stuck to the mealy-mouthed position of the leadership whose calls for an end to the war are linked with the demand for a complete withdrawal of all Russian troops from Crimea and the Donbas – which is exactly what NATO wants.
    In the past left Labour MPs were happy to openly support the efforts of the Stop the War campaign. But none of them showed up for Saturday’s conference at Hamilton House in central London.
    Stop the War vice-chair Andrew Murray said: “If you remember the vast demonstration 20 years ago against the Iraq war, which Stop the War led, that demonstration had the support of nearly every major union in the country — and in many cases the union leaderships had been driven there by their members, rather than necessarily by their own willingness to confront the Labour government”.
    Then nearly 140 Labour MPs defied Tony Blair to vote against the invasion of Iraq. Now none of them are prepared to face the wrath of Starmer and the inevitable suspension à la Corbyn that would inevitably follow for refusing to toe the imperialist line.
    Murray said “the leader of the Labour Party, revealing himself every day as more of an authoritarian imperialist has made it clear that any Labour MP would sacrifice the whip and their seat in Parliament if they associate with the anti-war movement — something even Tony Blair did not do. That is a democratic outrage which our movement should be standing against loud and clear”.
    Jeremy Corbyn was also absent having just returned from campaigning in America on behalf of Julian Assange. But he did at least make a video call to conference in support of peace negotiations. Though the former Labour leader avoided the ‘Russian troops out’ mantra he did say that the Russian invasion was “wrong” – before calling for peace talks, possibly brokered by Brazil, to end the fighting.
    The anti-war movement’s calls to ‘stop the war’ and ‘no to NATO expansion’ are routinely prefaced with the ‘Russian troops out’ demand which is what the imperialists and the Ukrainian fascists are fighting for in the first place.
    The two leaders of the self-styled “anti-war” movement – CND Chair Kate Hudson and Stop the War convener Lindsey German – both rejected the argument of one participant who intervened from the floor to say that blaming both Nato and Russia for the Ukraine war confused the question and that Russia should be seen as a victim of US imperialism.
    Lindsey German said it was important to acknowledge the “humanitarian catastrophe” unleashed by Putin’s invasion and what she called the aggressive expansionism of Russia, while also recognising the role of NATO expansion in provoking the war.
    Though the Stop the War leadership and their supporters amongst the left social-democratic and pacifist trends within the Labour Party have distanced themselves from the fake left’s “arm Ukraine” brigade they have not broken with the bourgeois consensus on both sides of the Atlantic that ignores the fascist nature of the Kiev regime, brands Russia the aggressor and ignores the legitimate rights of the people of Crimea and the Donbas who have joined the Russian Federation.
    The anti-imperialist struggle in Ukraine is part of the global front of the poor and the oppressed who are fighting for freedom all around the world. We must counter the bogus ‘evenhandedness’ within the peace movement with the call for victory for the Russian and Donbas forces fighting fascism and NATO-inspired aggression.

Fascism will be defeated!

Alexei Albu

by New Worker correspondent

A very successful online meeting to mobilise international support for the Free the Kononovich Brothers campaign took place on Thursday 25th August, with 50 participants from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the USA, England and Scotland. Organised by the London-based International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity campaign (IUAFS), the seminar called for the release of the Kononovich brothers and all Ukrainian political prisoners, and for the restoration of all political and media freedoms.
    Chaired by Theo Russell, the key speakers were: Chris Williamson, former Labour MP; Alexey Albu from Borotba (Struggle), a survivor of the 2014 Odessa Trade Union House Fire massacre; Steve Sweeney, Moscow-based investigative journalist and former Morning Star international editor; John Parker from Solidarity with Donbass and Antifascists in Ukraine (joining from Los Angeles); Phil Wilayto, Odessa Solidarity Campaign (Virginia USA); and members of the Young Communist League of the Russian Federation and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Speakers from Ukraine and the Donbas were unable to take part due to interrupted internet connections.
    Chris Williamson said that: "The imprisonment of the Kononovich brothers should have caused an outcry from the British left, but it has been met with a stony silence. We know the Zelensky regime is corrupt regime that came to power in a US-backed coup.” Speaking about the energy payments crisis currently shaking Britain, he commented that "most people aren’t making the connection between the sanctions on Russia and the soaring price of energy".
    In a video message from Eastern Ukraine, Alexey Albu spoke of the large-scale persecution of dissidents in Ukraine and said "tens of thousands have been arrested by the SBU (Ukrainian secret service)”. He said that many were not as well-known as the Kononovich brothers, Alexander Matyushenko of the left Livitstya movement or the Vasily Volga of the Union of Left Forces, all of whom have been beaten and tortured by Nazis. He added that in newly liberated areas the graves of those murdered by Nazis since 2014 are being exhumed. He said: "I believe that we will win and that fascism will be defeated, but I would be very happy if you comrades could help us in this process. No Pasaran!"
    Speaking from Moscow, Steve Sweeney spoke about the brutal crackdown on the opposition in Ukraine and said: "The entire Ukrainian left are either in prison, they’re dead or they’re in hiding.” He added that people in Moscow were "still reeling from the murder of Darya Dugina, who was killed in a cowardly attack" and compared the gloating in the western media over her assassination with their reaction to what they termed the "terrorist attack" on Salman Rushdie.

The IUAFS is a united front supported by the NCP, Socialist Fight, Consistent Democrats and the British Posadists as well as individual labour movement activists.Videos of the key speakers are now up on the new IUAFS YouTube Channel

Stand by the Donbas!

Boris Litvinov and his comrades

by New Worker correspondent

Communists discussed the crisis in eastern Ukraine and the threat of war when the NCP held an online meeting with Donbas communist leaders last week. NCP leader Andy Brooks and London Organiser Theo Russell joined Boris Litvinov and his comrades from the Communist Party of the Donetsk People’s Republic (CPDPR) via video link on 17th February.
    Donetsk communist leader Boris Litvinov spoke about the threat of a Ukrainian attack on the Donbas, the prospects for the recognition of the two Donbas people’s republics by the Russian Federation, the relationship between the CPDPR, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the Ukrainian communist movement.
    Boris Litvinov said: "The current crisis began in the Western media, we can do nothing, it gets stronger and stronger, and we can do nothing. We think the beginning coincided with the start of the Olympics and the attempt to organise a boycott. We think the West saw this as the right time to start a campaign around Ukraine.
    "Now the Ukrainian military machine is well armed by its Western partners and there are over 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers near the border with the Donetsk People's Republic. Our people’s militias are in control of the situation on the front line, but they understand the situation is very dangerous for the Donbas People's Republics.
    "The escalation has become more and more serious, as shown by the evacuation of some Western diplomats.
    "People living near the border are suffering attacks day by day. Today the situation has become much more dangerous with increased shelling by Ukrainian forces, and the People's Militias have begun evacuating the population near the border.
    "This situation can’t be solved in Ukraine but only in Washington or Brussels. We have seen the European countries send many modern weapons to Ukraine. The escalation has become more and more serious leading to the evacuation of diplomats.
    "The day before yesterday (16 February) many Western correspondents slept outdoors, waiting for the war to start! It’s a shame the opinion they have of the People's Republics. Many brave people sang the anthem of the Soviet Union, but nothing happened.
    "We in the CP DPR are disappointed, depressed and nervous about the current situation.
Eight years ago we decided that we want to be part of the Russian world - this is our fundamental position. Russia understands and shares this position with us, and supports us from their side.
    "We strongly believe the Russian president will never leave us in any circumstances. We have waited eight years for negotiations to begin to join the Russian Federation. We don’t want war but we strongly believe that when war starts our neighbour Russia will support and protect us.
    "The most desirable situation we hope for is for Russian to recognise the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics. The State Duma of the Russian Federation understands the current situation and the wish of the people to recognise our republics. The final decision rests with the Russian Federation president.
    "We see that the president of the Russian Federation has given strong support to the Minsk Agreements, and expects the politicians to follow the agreements, but the current situation can’t continue forever.
    "For eight years Ukraine has taken no steps to fulfil the Minsk Agreements. We are ready to wait, but no more than one month or one and a half months.
    "The choice we face is that either the Russian Federation recognises us, or the Minsk Agreements are implemented. But we believe that the Western governments won’t allow Kiev to fulfil the agreements, and want increased confrontation between Ukraine and Russia.
    "We have also seen more and more international support for recognition. This morning the President of Belarus said his country was ready to recognise our republics as soon as Russia takes that step. We also know that ten states in Latin America are ready to recognise the republics.
    "The world today is divided and is no longer unipolar. For us the leading centre of the world today is Russia. We see that we have the same values, the same religion and the same hopes as Russia, and we hope that in the near future we will be a united society, a Slavic society.
    "Many people in Ukraine have the same views and concerns, and we expect them to join us in the coming future.
    "In our initiative to join Russia we are setting an example to other nations that Russia is a leading country. Each nation is free to decide on their next steps of development.
    "We say that those who join together with Russia have a strong future and we believe other nations will choose our path and join with Russia.
    "Since 1991 we have observed centrifugal forces who have divided nations, and this has led to their collapse and the dangerous situation we see now. This is the right time for nations to become a united force and a force for peace.
    "The Communist Party of Ukraine is in a very dangerous position. It is well known in Solidnet, and the CP of Ukraine, the CP of the Russian Federation and the CP DPR are united and joined with other parties in the Union of Communist Parties ( a co-ordinating body made up of communist parties in the former republics of the USSR). In this framework we meet with the CP of Ukraine and we see our aims and wishes are the same.
    "The CPRF has delivered 13,000 tons of aid to the Donetsk People’s Republic. There is strong support for the recognition of our republics, and proven friendship towards us, in the Russian State Duma.
    "The main task of all communists is to support the unification of our nation States. We believe that as time goes on we will manage to revive our former Soviet Union.
    "The current US policy is to exert maximum pressure on France, Germany and the whole of Europe, but the US is not strong enough to cope with the Russian Federation.
    "We see that although the Second World War ended 75 years ago, there are no Russian forces on the territory of the EU, but a lot of US forces on the territory of the EU, a lot of US weapons on the territory of the European Union.
    "Ten to fifteen years ago the Russian Federation took the initiative to propose a zone of safety from the Atlantic to the Urals, a concept which is not possible while there are US forces on EU territory.
    "Describing the NCP as "dear, warm friends", Boris Litvinov thanked the NCP "for your attitude and support for our actions and initiatives", and said he hoped contacts between the two parties will continue".
    In the discussion NCP general secretary Andy Brooks spoke of the erroneous position being taken by some parties in the world communist movement who argue that the US and Russia are equivalent imperialist powers and the need to build solidarity with the people of the Donbas all over the world. In Britain the NCPB was campaigning in a united front with other progressive forces in support of the Donbas republics and all the anti-fascist forces in Ukraine.

• Report in the Donbas communist media

MH17 Call for Justice!

by New Worker correspondent 

In July 2014 a Malaysian airliner was shot down over eastern Ukraine during the fighting between the Donbas partisans and the fascist militias loyal to the US puppet regime in Kiev.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and all 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. A Dutch-led investigation said the plane had been downed by a missile fired by the Donbas resistance or the Russians – a claim that the imperialist media has unquestioningly repeated in its efforts to demonise Russia and the anti-fascist Ukrainian resistance movements. 

            Three Russians and one Ukrainian are going to be tried in their absence on 9th March in The Hague. But there’s another side to the story and that was heard at the Conway Hall in London on Tuesday when Bonanza Media and the Global Rights for Peaceful People movement screened a documentary that challenges the whole Western narrative on the tragedy.

The film presents massive evidence that the Dutch-led investigation into the crash was a total fraud which had already decided that Russia or the Donbas partisans were to blame. A tech expert showed that phone intercepts by Kiev regime intelligence officers purporting to record Donbas partisan commanders talking about the event on the day were spliced together from unconnected conversations. Huge pieces of crash site debris were not picked up by the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which refused to include Malaysia in the JIT for six months.

MH17: Call for Justice is the first detailed documentary to challenge the Dutch-NATO version of events about the tragedy. It includes wide-reaching and exclusive interviews, including the Malaysian prime minister, one of the suspects accused of shooting down the MH17, and the Malaysian colonel who travelled to Ukraine to collect the black boxes. There are also testimonies from witnesses, evidence from experts, and previously unseen footage from the crash site in Ukraine.

• MH17 Call for Justice video

The battle that saved the world

Abdul Khan and Olga Igumnova (on the left)

By Theo Russell

 Russians and British friends of Russia gathered at Rossotrudnichestvo, the Russian cultural centre in Kensington, London, last week to mark the 76th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad on 2^nd February 1943.

This event, on 1^st February, also marked 75 years since ties were formed between the peoples of Stalingrad and the English city of Coventry. Whilst the battle for Stalingrad was still raging, the people of Coventry began sending medicine and other supplies to the city on the Volga River.

Those ties still remain strong today, despite recent problems between the two countries. They were the world’s first twinned cities and started an international twinning movement.

Coventry was devastated by the German bombing of the city on 14–15 November 1941.

The following year 900 Coventry women paid sixpence each to have their names embroidered on a tablecloth that was sent to the women of Stalingrad. Today the tablecloth has an honoured place in the Panorama Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad in the city that was renamed Volgograd in 1961.

In response, 36,000 women in Stalingrad signed an album that was sent to Coventry and in 1944 an official “bond of friendship” was created between the two cities.

After the war the people of Coventry continued to organise assistance for rebuilding the shattered city and the Queen Mother was made an honorary citizen of Volgograd.

Stalingrad was the bloodiest battle in world history, and could be said to have decided the destinies not only of Russia but of the whole world.

Councillor Abdul Khan, deputy leader of Coventry City Council, said: “Today, at a time of difficulties in relations between Russia and Britain, such links are paramount in maintaining trust and friendly relations.”

He announced that a series of friendship murals at Volgograd Place in Coventry, opened in 1972, is now being moved from under the city’s ring road to pride of place in the main central square.

Olga Igumnova Lawson, speaking for the ‘House of Europe in Volgograd’, a Russian quango, recalled the order issued by General Friedrich Paulus, commander of the German 6th Army, for every inhabitant of Stalingrad to be exterminated.

She said that recent historical research has revealed that three million people took part in the battle, not two million as previously believed.

The bombing of Stalingrad on 23^rd August 1942, before the assault, was the worst of the whole war, killing 40,000 of the 400,000 inhabitants. By February 1942 the number of inhabitants was reduced to 10,000. Most of Olga’s family members died in the battle but her grandmother survived.

Olga stressed the enduring importance of “people’s diplomacy” in preserving the close and sacred ties that were formed during those tragic days of immense suffering and war.

The evening ended with an emotional piano rendition by Olga of Kalinka, a famous Russian song popularised in the West by the Red Army Choir after the war.