Russian communities across Europe have been polarised by the Ukraine war – and that threatened to spill over in Berlin this month when they marked the defeat of Nazi Germany.
Given how much Vladimir Putin uses the Soviet victory over fascism in 1945 to justify Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there was no avoiding the war here in the German capital.
Many German-based Russians clearly believe the president’s reasons for the war, with some views in Berlin virtually indistinguishable from the narratives promoted by Russian state TV – but others are just as vocal in opposing it.
The commemorations in Berlin started on 8 May, as Germany marked the 78th anniversary of its liberation from fascism, and groups of Russians visited the Soviet war memorial in Treptower Park.
One, Alexander, who is originally from Russia but has lived in Germany for more than 20 years, said he believed Russian forces were “defending Donbas, Crimea, Kherson, and Odesa against fascists” – listing places in south-eastern Ukraine.
