- The Russian state is struggling to maintain consistency in a core narrative that it uses to justify the war in Ukraine: that the invasion is analogous to the Soviet experience in the Second World War.
- On 18 April 2023, Russian state media announced the cancellation of this year's Immortal Regiment 'Great Patriotic War' remembrance marches on 'safety' grounds. In reality, the authorities were highly likely concerned that participants would highlight the scope of recent Russian losses.
- This follows Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly questioning whether there are actually any 'Nazis' in Ukraine, going against Russia's justification for the war. The authorities have continued attempts to unify the Russian public around polarising myths about the 1940s.
- On 12 April 2023, state news agency RIA Novosti reported'unique' documents from FSB archives, implicating the Nazis in the murder of 22,000 Polish nationals in the Katyn Massacre of 1940.In reality, FSB's predecessor agency, the KVD, was responsible. Russia's State Duma officially condemned Joseph Stalin for ordering the killings in 2010.
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