The famous “Victory Banner over the Reichstag” photo was taken in May 1945 by Yevgeny Khaldei. Soviet propaganda presented this as a Russian triumph, but the soldiers were Georgian Meliton Kantaria, Russian Belarusian partisan Mikhail Yegorov, and Ukrainian Alexei Kovalev – a perfect illustration of how Russia claimed the multinational Soviet victory as exclusively its own.

Behind that inflated death toll lies a carefully crafted Soviet myth that made Russia look like the sole victor over Hitler. Today, that same myth threatens Ukraine’s survival.

BY YURIY LUKANOV

27/01/2025

When Donald Trump claimed 60 million Russians died in World War II, he wasn’t just getting a number wrong. He was repeating a carefully crafted illusion that helped Russia become the threat it is today – an illusion that continues to shape world leaders’ decisions about war and peace in Ukraine.

“I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin – and this despite the Radical Left’s Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process. All of that being said, Im going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a “deal,” and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries. Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL.” NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE
LOST!!!”

Trump’s post on Truth Social on 22 January, with which he announced an ultimatum to Russia

You’ve probably seen it yourself – the iconic photo of Soviet soldiers raising their flag over the Reichstag in Berlin, 1945. For decades, this image symbolized “Russian” victory over Nazi Germany. But here’s what you weren’t told: the soldiers in that famous shot were Georgian Meliton Kantaria, Russian Mikhail Yegorov (who fought with Belarusian partisans and was celebrated in Belarus), and Ukrainian Oleksiy Kovalev – not exclusively Russian heroes as the narrative suggested. 

Yet their real identities were deliberately downplayed as the Soviet Union, and later Russia, crafted a narrative of singular Russian triumph.

Even the photo itself was manipulated to serve this myth-making. Soviet censors edited out details like multiple watches on the soldiers’ wrists (which suggested looting) to create a perfect propaganda image. The photograph, taken by Yevgeny Khaldei, became a powerful symbol of victory – but not the victory it actually depicted. Instead of celebrating the diverse peoples who fought together against Nazism, it was used to promote the myth of exclusive Russian heroism.

This systematic myth-making went far beyond one photograph. When Allied forces spoke of “Russians” fighting Hitler, they were actually talking about Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians, and over a dozen other nations forced under Soviet rule. The USSR consisted of fifteen national republics, plus numerous autonomous entities belonging to other peoples. 

The real number of Soviet casualties was 26 million – less than half of Trump’s claim. More than 6 million Ukrainians fought in the Red Army against Nazism, but their story, along with those of other Soviet peoples, has been deliberately obscured for decades.

Consider this: While the world spoke of “Russian suffering,” it was actually Ukraine that lost 9 million people – a staggering proportion of those 26 million deaths. The territories of Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova were occupied twice – first during the German advance, then during their retreat. Meanwhile, only a fraction of Russia’s territory ever saw occupation.

This systematic mythmaking went far deeper than just casualty numbers. For decades, the Soviet Union – and later Russia – crafted a narrative that painted the USSR as essentially a Russian state. This sleight of hand worked so well that even today, Western leaders unconsciously equate the Soviet victory over Nazism with Russian achievement. The Germans were even made to feel a specific guilt complex toward Russians, rather than toward all Soviet peoples who suffered under Nazi occupation.

Belarus lost over one-quarter of its population in WW2, and Ukraine lost 16.3% — more than Russia’s 12.7%. Nevertheless, the Soviet contribution to the victory in WW2 is portrayed as “Russian.” 

Here’s where the story takes an even darker turn: while the West was busy attributing Soviet achievements to “Russians,” they missed how the Soviet Union itself behaved like a predator similar to Nazi Germany. Few remember now that Stalin helped rebuild German military power after World War I, or that the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany started as partners, not enemies.

The truth that’s been hidden in plain sight? The infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939 wasn’t just a non-aggression treaty – it was a partnership in conquest. While Hitler moved west, Stalin seized parts of Finland in a brutal winter war, occupied the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and participated in dividing Poland. The Soviet Union only became an ally against Nazism when Hitler betrayed Stalin in June 1941.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about how the West chose its World War II ally: When Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR – former partners in conquest – finally turned on each other, Western democracies faced a devil’s choice. They picked the USSR not because it was morally superior, but because Hitler’s regime was openly advertising its predatory goals while the Soviet Union maintained a carefully crafted image of a workers’ and peasants’ paradise.

The reality behind that image? A vast system of concentration camps no less terrible than those in Nazi Germany. While the West saw the USSR as the lesser evil, millions suffered in the Soviet Gulag system. Even before the war, in 1933, this “workers’ paradise” had orchestrated the Holodomor, systematically starving at least 6 million Ukrainian peasants to death.

In essence, when the West celebrated its victory over Nazi Germany in 1945, what really happened was, as one historian put it, “the Gulag defeated Buchenwald.” But the moral complexity of this victory was hidden behind the myth of Russian heroism. This carefully maintained image of the victorious liberator prevented the free world from seeing the Soviet Union – and later Russia – for what it really was: a predatory state that had simply replaced Nazi occupation with its own brand of totalitarian control.

The pattern of predatory behavior didn’t end with World War II. After expelling the Nazis from Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union simply replaced one form of totalitarian control with another. When Hungarians rose up in 1954 or when Czechoslovakia sought freedom in 1968, Soviet tanks provided Moscow’s answer. While other Allied powers could proudly celebrate their victory over Nazism, the Soviet Union’s “liberation” of Eastern Europe had merely replaced one oppressive regime with another.

The most tragic part? This misunderstanding continues to shape world politics today. Look at the pattern:

• After the USSR’s collapse, Russia simply took its UN Security Council seat by default
• In 1994, the West trusted Russia enough to become a guarantor of Ukraine’s security in the Budapest Memorandum, where Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons
• In 2008, when Russia attacked Georgia and occupied part of its territory, the world largely looked away
• Even earlier, Russia had destroyed the Chechen Republic within its own borders, with minimal international response
• By 2014, when Russia violated its Budapest commitments and invaded Ukraine, starting with Crimea, most Russians actually supported the aggression
• Now in 2025, Trump suggests another “deal” with Putin, still viewing Russia through the lens of these historical myths.

What makes this particularly dangerous is how these myths have created a kind of diplomatic blind spot. When Putin talks about peace now, he’s following a familiar playbook: seeking to retain illegally occupied territories while ensuring Ukraine remains vulnerable to future aggression. The Russian people’s current inclination toward peace comes not from recognizing the war’s injustice, but from mounting casualties and economic hardship.

The implications go far beyond just correcting historical records. Every time Western leaders base their decisions on these myths about Russia’s role in World War II or its supposed special status in international affairs, they risk repeating the same mistakes that led to current catastrophe. When Trump tweets about making a “deal” with Putin, he’s not just misquoting casualty figures – he’s falling into a trap that has repeatedly led the West to misread Russia’s true nature and intentions.

The question now isn’t just about ending the current war – it’s about whether we’ll finally learn to see through these myths that have clouded Western judgment for nearly a century. As Russia seeks another “peace deal” that would leave it in control of occupied territories, we face the same choice that has confronted Western leaders for decades: Will we finally see Russia for what it is, or will we fall for the myth one more time?

Yuriy Lukanov

Yuriy Lukanov, author of two books about the Russian-Ukrainian war Reporter Volkovsky andThe Press: how Russia destroyed media freedom in Crimea. 

Editor’s note. The opinions expressed in our Opinion section belong to their authors. Euromaidan Press’ editorial team may or may not share them.

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