There are no enemies for us beyond the Volga – Newspaper Kommersant No. 20 (7465) dated 02/03/2023

On February 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Stalingrad to take part in events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad. Special Correspondent “Kommersant” Andrey Kolesnikov was also in the city and confirms: no, nothing has been forgotten so far. In addition, it was in Stalingrad that Vladimir Putin announced how the German Leopards would be met.

At the entrance to the city there is a road sign “Stalingrad”. Well, okay, Stalingrad is Stalingrad.

In Stalingrad, on the day of the celebrations, it is deserted. In the morning there was a parade of military equipment. The governor of the Stalingrad region, Andrei Bocharov, with all his desire, could not accept him: he had a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin, and he was just leaving quarantine for the “clean zone”.

Representatives of public-patriotic and youth organizations were waiting for a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the panorama museum “Battle of Stalingrad”. Young people waited in a cafe, without touching, however, tea, coffee and tomato juice. Although their mouths were dry, it must have been a long time ago. Young people could be understood.

One of them, Lev Kravchenko, the one who would later tell Vladimir Putin the story of the land sold to the Germans in Ukraine, in which medals and orders were later found, said that none of his friends, like himself, wants Volgograd to be renamed Stalingrad .

“For us, this is a peaceful name,” he explained to me. “It is closer to us!”

– And according to polls, 26% (VTsIOM of February 1. – “b”) residents – for Stalingrad, – for some reason I insisted.

“They didn’t interrogate me,” the young man snapped.

– There are methods … – I objected. – It is not necessary to interview every inhabitant in order to get an idea …

– Then you can rename it to Tsaritsyn. It’s also a historical name,” Lev Kravchenko held on.

– Well, for now it’s Stalingrad. We noticed when we entered the city.

“Today, everyone in the city is immersed in those days,” the young man nodded. “I wouldn’t say that completely … but still, Stalin defeated Nazism …

So there was something good? I clarified.

– Of course! he agreed at once.

– So it is possible to permanently rename Stalingrad then? I asked.

— You can, — nodded the young man. — Yes, we do not really mind! And this is also possible! It’s just too close for us!

Something too quickly, I convinced him, no effort was required at all.

Vladimir Putin, before arriving at the panorama museum, laid a wreath at the Eternal Flame on Mamaev Kurgan and performed at a concert on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi troops in the Battle of Stalingrad. Everything was said there.

– This battle was not just a battle for the city – the very existence of a tormented, but unconquered country was at stake, the outcome of not only the Great Patriotic War, but the entire Second World War was determined, and everyone felt it, realized it both in the trenches and in the rear, – Vladimir Putin first said something that was impossible not to say here on this day.

Now, unfortunately, we see that the ideology of Nazism – already in its modern guise, modern manifestation – again creates direct threats to the security of our country, we are again and again forced to repulse the aggression of the collective West! Putin stated.

But the President of Russia came to say not these words first of all. But these:

“Unbelievable… unbelievable, but true: we are again being threatened by German Leopard tanks with crosses on board!” And they are again going to fight with Russia on the soil of Ukraine with the hands of the last of Hitler, with the hands of Bandera,” Vladimir Putin said. As a fait accompli, those who expect to defeat Russia on the battlefield apparently do not understand that a modern war with Russia will be completely different for them. We do not send our tanks to their borders, but we have something to answer. And the use of armored vehicles will not end the matter. Everyone should understand this.

It was very serious, the point is not even that a clear and obvious threat was voiced, which had not been there until now.

The point is that now it will have to be fulfilled. Otherwise, what Vladimir Putin continued would also be meaningless:

– For those who threaten us, apparently, the simple truth is incomprehensible: all our people, we all grew up and absorbed the traditions of our people with mother’s milk – generations of winners who created our country with their work, sweat and blood and handed it over to us in inheritance.

If this is not called escalation, then no one will say what is then called escalation.

After all, the tanks will come.

And then Lev Kravchenko told Vladimir Putin this.

– The Consulate General of Russia in Germany received a statement from a German farmer that on his territory (in Germany. – A.K.) found the medal “For Courage”. They did a lot of work, looking for information in the archives… It turns out that the machine gunner of the 91st Guards Rifle Regiment Viktor Aleksandrovich Golubev was awarded. For the fact that in the battles near Rostov he destroyed 13 Nazis … The Red Army soldier died in 1944 in the battles for the right-bank Ukraine … As we learned, Ukraine sold its fertile layer of land to Germany (presumably already in the late Soviet era.— A.K.)!.. As the Nazis did during the Great Patriotic War!.. And, most likely, the medal ended up in Germany…

Details quickly thickened:

“And here is the question,” said Lev Kravchenko. And if they (Ukrainians.— A.K.) trade in the remains of fighters who fought for victory – this is completely different! .. At the concert “Say thanks to the heroes!” The 15-year-old youth soldier handed over this medal to the Tula youth soldier, who should give the medal to the Tula relatives of Viktor Aleksandrovich Golubev. Yes, relatives live in Tula … The finale remains unfinished! ..

“You told an amazing story … I don’t know who and when was selling the fertile layer from Ukraine …” the president said to Lev Kravchenko. “Although there are such facts …

Mr. Putin preferred to make a reservation about this, since everything can be expected from these people.

“They sell round timber…” he shrugged his shoulders. “Soon all the Carpathians will be bald… That’s their business. But if with human remains, then it doesn’t fit in my head … But a German farmer came and handed over a medal to our representative office! ..

Lev Kravchenko agreed. However, it seemed to me that he kept his special opinion to himself.

“I am sure,” the president added, “the governor of the Tula region will take part in an event of this kind … Alexei Gennadievich (Dyumin.— A.K.) – he himself is an officer … the son of an officer … and his grandfather, in my opinion, took part in the Great Patriotic War.

And Lev Kravchenko, of course, did not argue with the fact that the German farmer did not disappoint, but after the meeting he repeated again that he was simply shocked by the story about the medal and the remains. He thinks they were in this land too. And he gets to the point.

“Life is contradictory and complex,” Mr. Putin said a few minutes later.

Well, good. And then something began to seem more and more black and white and even much more black than white.

At ten o’clock in the evening the center of Stalingrad was already filled with people. Everyone seemed to be going just in time for the panorama museum. But not because Vladimir Putin was just here. No, people went to the wall that remained from Pavlov’s house, and to the building of the old mill, which had been shot and also stood since the Battle of Stalingrad. It looks like a brick has been shot here. There are many such buildings in Mariupol and Soledar.

Now the walls of these buildings were painted in crimson tones. The announcer talked about what the Battle of Stalingrad consisted of, and about its unbearable severity.

People kept coming and coming.

Andrei Kolesnikov, Stalingrad