Twenty-four hours after the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Westminster hosted an unusual gathering. On Feb. 25, 2026, Committee Room 10 filled with British ministers, lords and MPs, journalists, and leading historians for a single purpose: to set the record straight about who actually won World War II.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP hosted the event, “The Ukraine Factor: Building Ukraine’s WW2 Legacy.” Its premise was simple but explosive: for over 70 years, the world has been told that Russia defeated Nazi Germany. That’s not quite true. Soviet Russia systematically erased Ukraine’s role from history after 1945. And Russian President Vladimir Putin is still exploiting that lie today.
The big lie
According to the story we’ve been told, the Soviet Union beat Hitler, and the Soviet Union was basically Russia. Russian soldiers, Russian sacrifice, Russian glory. All this is a myth – a carefully constructed one.
After the war, Soviet authorities set about rewriting history. Ukrainian contributions are labeled as “Soviet” or simply credited to Russia. Ukrainian commanders became footnotes. Ukrainian casualties and cities that held the line became backdrops to Russian heroism.
Western historians, working with limited sources during the Cold War, often repeated these distortions without realizing it. The result? Generations grew up believing Russia alone bore the burden of the Eastern Front.
Putin loves this narrative. He’s weaponized it. By claiming Russia exclusively defeated the Nazis, he argues Ukraine has no martial tradition, no capacity to resist, and no legitimate claim to independence.
He’s used this line to persuade Western leaders – Trump among them – that supporting Ukraine is pointless. Ukraine can’t win, the argument goes, because Ukraine never really fought and, in any case, is simply an extension of Russia.
Undoubtedly, the soldiers still defending Donbas will disagree.
Who showed up
The list of speakers was an impressive display of expertise.
Al Carns, Britain’s minister of state for the Armed Forces, represented the UK government. His presence sent a message: Whitehall takes this seriously.
From Kyiv, on video linkup, came General Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President, and participating in the meeting, Ambassador General Valery Zaluzhny. Both men know firsthand how historical narratives shape battlefield realities and international support.
The historians brought serious firepower. Sir Antony Beevor, whose books on Stalingrad and Berlin are considered definitive, lent his considerable reputation to the effort. Professor Yaroslav Hrytsak from the Ukrainian Catholic University and Ivan Franko National University offered deep expertise in Ukrainian history. Professor Ola Hnatiuk, who teaches at both Kyiv Mohyla Academy and the University of Warsaw, bridged Ukrainian and European perspectives. Professor Andrew Wilson from UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies added academic heft. Dr. Olenka Pevny from Cambridge moderated.
What actually happened in WWII
Here’s what the history books should say but often don’t.
Ukrainians formed one of the largest contingents in the Red Army. Millions of them. They fought at Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and Berlin. They earned the highest Soviet military honors. They died in staggering numbers – somewhere between five and eight million Ukrainian deaths, military and civilian combined. Without Ukraine, the Soviet Union could not have won. Full stop.
Yet Soviet histories buried these facts. Russia was credited with everything while downplaying everyone else. Western historians, lacking access to detailed records, often repeated the same distortions.
The result? A fundamentally false narrative about how Nazi Germany was defeated.
Why it matters
Russian propaganda constantly invokes what Russia still calls the “Great Patriotic War” to claim military supremacy and historical destiny. By taking sole credit for beating Hitler, Moscow positions itself as the heir to Soviet glory while denying Ukraine any martial tradition. The message: Ukrainian resistance is futile, Ukraine doesn’t count in the scheme of things, Western support is wasted.
Ukraine’s performance since 2014 – and especially since February 2022 – tells a different story. The Ukrainian military has proven remarkably effective against an adversary that claims to be the exclusive heir to Soviet military might.
That effectiveness isn’t coming from nowhere. It draws on generations of military experience and cultural memory that were suppressed but never eliminated. Today’s Ukrainian soldiers are descendants of those who fought from Moscow to Berlin. The legacy was always there, acknowledged or not.
Understanding Ukraine’s actual role in WWII explains why the country has fought so effectively. It also matters for Western policymakers deciding how much support to provide.
If you believe the distorted narrative – that Russia alone beat Hitler and Ukraine has no martial tradition – you might underestimate Ukrainian resilience and overestimate Russian capabilities. You might fall for propaganda suggesting resistance is futile. Get the history right, and current events make a lot more sense.
The Westminster event represented a belated step toward correction.
Understanding Ukraine’s WWII legacy is essential to understanding Ukraine’s present and future. By building that legacy and correcting the record, the event’s organizers contributed not only to historical accuracy but also to informed policymaking, which is crucial for addressing current geopolitical challenges and ensuring that the lessons of history inform future decisions.
Finally, it should be noted that speakers emphasized that Ukrainians are fighting today for their very existence, not simply for their borders, and that their courage and sacrifice deserve the support of all those who fought tyranny in the past and do so today.
The event was organised by Maria Tymofienko, Founder, Global Friends of Ukraine, with the support of the Voice of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Embassy in the UK.