Eighty years ago, Germany treacherously invaded the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and thus began the Great Patriotic War.
The actions of German Nazis and their accomplices were aimed at destroying the Soviet people. The occupants committed atrocities on captured territories, intending to fully or partially obliterate national, ethnic and racial groups inhabiting the USSR; they murdered members of such groups, caused them serious bodily harm, impeded their procreation, forcefully took children away from their families, forcefully removed people from their homes or otherwise intentionally made their living conditions so dire so as to cause members of such groups to perish. The war claimed lives of almost 27 million Soviet people, with civilian casualties exceeding 13.6 million people.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Russian-Belorussian Union State (hereinafter – the Parliamentary Assembly) deems it unacceptable to let the Nazi atrocities fall into oblivion. Protecting historical memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War is essential in order to prevent crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, stop manifestation of Nazism, and maintain global peace and amity.
To protect the memory of millions of Soviet citizens who fell victim to Nazi criminals and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War, the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation have adopted the Law of the Republic of Belarus dd. 5 January 2022 No. 146-Z On Genocide of the Belarussian People and the Federal Law dd. 21 April 2025 No. 74-FZ On Memorialization of the Victims of Genocide of the Soviet People During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
Legislative recognition of the fact of genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 is a logical extension of the verdict made by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg (the Nuremberg trials) and subsequent court rulings against Nazi criminals and their accomplices.
Taking into account the Charter of the United Nations adopted on 26 June 1945, the Nuremberg Charter and Verdict adopted as part of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide dd. 9 December 1948, and the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity dd. 26 November 1968, and in line with legal regulations adopted in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, the Parliamentary Assembly recognizes the atrocities committed by German fascist aggressors and their accomplices against the USSR population during the Great Patriotic War as genocide of the Soviet people.
Members of the Parliamentary Assembly call for resolute opposition to any attempts to rewrite history, justify Nazism or downplay the role of the Soviet people in defeating fascism, and consider support for neo-Nazism demonstrated in pursuit of political agenda a danger to all mankind.
Members of the Parliamentary Assembly call upon the United Nations, international interparliamentary organizations and bodies, and fellow parliamentarians to endorse this Statement and make corresponding statements.”
