By Aleksei Malenko
Eighty years ago, the most devastating and tragic period in human history, the Second World War, was brought to an end with the collective efforts of the peoples of the world. The Victory Day, celebrated on May 9, does not just mark the ceasefire. It stands as a powerful symbol of the triumph of courage and unity over the Nazi ideology, which was based on hatred and disdain for human life.
The war claimed the lives of more than 70 million people worldwide, leaving behind a deep and enduring wound in the memory of generations. It also established moral landmarks that continue to hold relevance to this day. The collapse of the Nazi regime was an inevitable result of immense and coordinated efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition states united by a common goal.
The Soviet Union sacrificed too much for this Victory. The Red (Soviet) Army suffered irretrievable losses amounting to 11,944,100 personnel. Among them 6,885,000 were killed and 4,559,000 went missing or were captured. Including civilian casualties, the Soviet Union lost 26.6 million lives. Over 1,710 cities and more than 70,000 villages were destroyed, along with tens of thousands of industrial and agricultural facilities. These figures are not mere statistics — they represent millions of individual human lives, shattered families and stories that remain forever unfinished in our collective memory. Nazi Germany deliberately pursued a policy of terror against civilian population in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union. Mass executions, blockades, starvation, and forced deportations were employed as instruments of deliberate extermination. The verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal emphasised that the killings and mistreatment of civilians by the Third Reich in the Soviet Union reached an unprecedented scale and were systematic in nature, aiming at their total physical extermination. According to the 1948 UN Convention, such actions are classified as genocide.
This legal interpretation has been upheld in modern Russian judicial practice. For instance, the Siege of Leningrad has been officially recognised as an act of genocide. Today, one of the key priorities of the state policy of the Russian Federation is to restore historical justice. Legal proceedings that acknowledge Nazi crimes as genocide are taking place not only at the federal level but also in the regions that suffered the most severe human and material losses during World War II.
The perception of the scale of that tragedy serves as a critical guidepost for us today. The Victory of 1945 was not only a military success. It laid the foundation for the post-war international order, which, despite its challenges, ensured global stability and predictability for about 80 years. Nowadays, when we witness persistent attempts by the collective West to revise history, Victory Day once again becomes a moral reference point.
During the war, the Union of South Africa, a member of the British Commonwealth during these years, was an active member of the anti-Hitler coalition. Despite the vast geographical distance between our countries, South Africa made a meaningful contribution to the common struggle. Particularly notable was the direct assistance provided to the Soviet Union through the involvement of South African sailors in the Arctic convoys. Those missions were performed in extreme conditions and under constant threat of attack. Nevertheless, they managed to deliver essential supplies to the Soviet cities of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk.
Cooperation between our countries extended far beyond military logistics. It had a more profound humanitarian and moral dimension. The International Association of Friends of the Soviet Union actively operated in South Africa during the war. It organized fundraising campaigns for humanitarian aid, hosted screenings of Soviet documentary films and held concerts of Russian classical music. The Seventh Symphony of Russian musician Dmitri Shostakovich, known as the «Leningrad Symphony», was performed on 9 July 1944 in Johannesburg and later in September that year in Cape Town. Composed during the siege of Leningrad, this masterpiece of art became a voice of the city that refused to submit to Nazis. Its performance in South Africa became an act of cultural diplomacy and deep empathy, a sign of respect and moral solidarity.
The memory of our joint struggle lives not only in historical documents and archives. We continue to feel the deep interweaving of our shared history through our engagement with living participants of those events and their descendants residing in Cape Town. This year a significant event for the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Cape Town was the solemn presentation of the jubilee medal «80 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945» to Mr. Joseph Wilkinson, veteran of the Arctic convoys. It is in this context that the words of the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir Putin, are more important than ever: "Russia has never diminished the importance of the Second Front or the assistance provided by the Allies. We honour the bravery of all the soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, members of the Resistance, underground fighters and partisans, the courage of the Chinese people who fought for their independence against militarist Japan. And we will always remember, never will we forget our shared struggle and the inspiring traditions of our alliance."
Today Russia faces continuous efforts of the West to revise history and blur the line between liberators and aggressors. Our country, exactly like 80 years ago, remains steadfast in defending the truth about World War II on the international scene. We actively participate in relevant UN initiatives, engage in dialogue with foreign partners, including South Africa, and support archival, academic, and museum projects. We firmly believe that countering the glorification of Nazism, anti-Semitism, racism, and all forms of xenophobia is a shared responsibility of all nations.
The Consulate General makes considerable efforts to strengthen cultural ties and restore historical justice. In 2025, an exhibition marking the 81st anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad was presented. Prepared by the Center of Historical Memory under the President of the Russian Federation in collaboration with the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN, the exhibition aroused significant public interest. It was displayed at the Castle of Good Hope and at the Robben Island Museum, which is a symbol of struggle, resilience, and the unbreakable human spirit. Among the most important patriotic events organised by the Consulate General there was the «Garden of Memory» campaign, in which Russian compatriots participated together with concerned South Africans and, most importantly, their children. This initiative seeks to plant 27 million trees – one for each life lost in the war.
The Victory Day is not only a tribute to the past – it is a contribution to the preservation of peace. It is a day of remembrance and gratitude, of political and moral responsibility. We always recall it to ask ourselves the following question: have we done our best to teach the younger generations for deeply respecting heroism of their ancestors, to foster dignity and courage? The answer lies not only in military memorials and official ceremonies. It lies in diplomacy, in honest dialogue, in culture and education. It lies in our ability to preserve historical memory as the foundation for building more just and secure future. It is important not only for Russia, but for all members of the international community. This message we strive to convey to our South African partners, drawing upon our shared history of resistance to apartheid, whose ideology was in many ways similar to that of Nazism.
* Aleksei Malenko is the Consul General of the Russian Federation in Cape Town.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.