Your tanks will burn, Russia tells Germans
THE Kremlin said Western tanks sent to the Ukraine marked a ‘new level of confrontation’ as Russia turned on Germany with a furious reminder of Nazi war crimes.
Germany’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to the Ukrainian front lines and allow Nato allies to send others sparked a wave of fury in Russia.
Propagandists said the move meant Germany had joined the war against Russia, with one even suggesting that Berlin be bombed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the West had overestimated the power of their tanks and any bid to help Ukraine would see ‘these tanks burn just like all the others’.
He said: ‘I am certain that many experts understand the absurdity of this idea. The plan is disastrous in terms of technology. But above all, it overestimates the potential it will add to the Ukrainian army. These tanks burn just like all the others.’
The Russian ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechayev, said the decision caused ‘irreparable damage’ to Russian relations with the West, particularly Germany.
He added: ‘It destroys the remnants of mutual trust, causes irreparable damage to the already deplorable state of Russian-German relations, and casts doubt on the possibility of their normalisation in the foreseeable future.’
There was no immediate reaction from Vladimir Putin, who in a televised interview yesterday offered career advice to students at the University of Moscow and fielded questions on lost dogs and quantum technology. He referred only briefly to the ‘complicated’ security situation facing Russia.
Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said Germany’s move confirmed a ‘pre-planned war’ against Moscow.
Propagandist Yevgeny Satanovsky, president of the Moscow Institute of the Middle East, suggested that Germany should be hit with nuclear bombs, saying: ‘German tanks with crosses on their armour will again march across Ukraine attacking Russian soldiers.
‘I have a natural reaction to this – the Soviet Union bombed Berlin in 1941. And to me this is a signal that the Reichstag, or Bundestag, which now replaces the Reichstag, simply should not remain standing any longer. Flat, slightly radioactive, melted-down ground [will remain in its place].’
Mr Nechayev said that by sending tanks to Ukraine, Germany was ignoring the ‘historical responsibility to Russia’ owed after Nazi war crimes.
He said: ‘Berlin’s choice means the final refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to recognise its historical responsibility to our people for the terrible, timeless crimes of Nazism during the Great Patriotic War.’
Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov said the decision made it clear Germany had joined the war against Russia and turned German ministers into ‘new Nazi leaders’. He said: ‘It’s time to send a clear, resolute message that we now consider Germany a direct party to the conflict, rekindling memories of the Second World War.’
The United States is also poised to send at least 30 tanks to Ukraine, prompting more fury from the Kremlin.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the US, said the move was ‘blatant provocation’, adding: ‘It is obvious that Washington is purposefully trying to inflict a strategic defeat on us. American tanks will be destroyed by our military in the same way all other samples of Nato equipment are being destroyed.’