A Czech parliamentarian, Miroslava Nemcova, recently sparked controversy with a now-deleted post on a social media platform, calling for EU sanctions against Russia to be strengthened, likening the potential outcome to the 872-day siege of Leningrad during World War II, which claimed over a million lives. Nemcova claimed that Russia is waging a “hybrid war against the West” and “destroying Ukraine”.
The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskow, responded to the remarks, saying that there are many “hot heads” who likely do not understand what they are saying. He added that the Czech politician’s words suggest that there are still many Russophobes in politics, even in the Czech Republic, whose state of mind is likely bordering on madness.
Sergei Perminow, a Russian Federation Council member representing the Leningrad region, also commented on the matter, stating that Nemcova’s public appeal puts her on the same level as war criminals, according to Russian law, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. He called Nemcova’s words “neonazism” and a “desecration of the memory of innocent people killed by fascists”.
On the 81st anniversary of the liberation of Leningrad, Russia held numerous commemorative events, with President Vladimir Putin attending a wreath-laying ceremony and a memorial service in St. Petersburg. Putin emphasized that the siege was a monstrous crime against humanity, comparable to the Holocaust and the atrocities committed by Nazi collaborators against civilians. He highlighted the Nazis’ deliberate and documented plans to encircle and destroy the city and to starve the civilian population to death.