Putin to preside on Stalingrad anniversary

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin is going to preside Thursday over commemorations to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest in World War II.

The Kremlin is drumming up support for its offensive in Ukraine, launched almost a year ago to de-Nazify Ukraine, whose soldiers fought alongside Russia against Nazi Germany.

Putin is expected to visit Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad, to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at a war memorial and speak at a concert, the Kremlin said.

The battle of Stalingrad lasted more than six months, ending with the surrender of German troops on February 2, 1943, after more than a million people were killed.

The victory of the Red Army marked a turning point not only for the Soviet Union, which had suffered several heavy defeats, but also for the Allied forces.

The 80th anniversary of victory comes as Russia tries to step up its offensive in Ukraine, bolstered by tens of thousands of reservists mobilised last autumn.

Russia has recently claimed gains near the hotspot town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.

Moscow recently announced the capture of the eastern town of Soledar as it seeks to wrest control of the whole of the Donetsk region.

After a series of setbacks on the ground, Soledar was the first major victory for Russia's forces, although the significance of capturing the salt-mining town is disputed.

On Wednesday a bust of the dictator Joseph Stalin was unveiled in Volgograd.

Since Putin took power in Russia in 2000, there has been a growing chorus of Russians who have been positive about the role of the despot in history, and historians have pointed out the creeping rehabilitation of Stalin in the country.