Jan. 11 marked a new milestone for the war in Ukraine: 1,418 days. That is how long the Soviet army fought against Germany from June 22, 1941, until Victory Day on May 9, 1945. 

To separate this victory from its own complicity in the Nazi rampage across Europe in the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Soviet — and later Russian — historiographers introduced the concept of the Great Patriotic War, focusing on Moscow’s actions after Operation Barbarossa.

Since the early 2000s, Kremlin propagandists have been equating Ukrainian democratic forces with nationalists and Nazis, while employing practices — mass deportations, cultural erasure and systematic violence against civilians — that mirror the very crimes they claim to be fighting against.

The lesson to be learned from 1418 days of genocide against Ukrainians is that the myth of Russia’s strength and invincibility has already shattered. Even with the backing of China, Iran, North Korea and enablers like Cuba and Venezuela, Russia — by far the largest military spender in Europe — cannot defeat Ukraine outright. 

Russia’s total war spending is projected at roughly $540 billion since the........

© The Moscow Times