In the wake of insulting allegations aimed at distortion of the Second World War history, President Putin underscores the importance of adherence to the truth and rejection of falsifications.

© Sputnik / Alexei Nikolsky Putin Says Russian People Made Biggest Sacrifice in Fight Against Nazism

ANOSINO (Moscow Region), January 29 (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international society on Thursday to speak only the truth about the Second World War, adding that opponents of Russia recently made “absurd” statements due to political ambitions.

“You have all heard the absurd, even shameful statements some of our opponents have been resorting to, driven by their ambition to contain Russia and, in the final account, to distort the past. We must confront all this mudslide of lies, falsifications and distortions of historical facts,” Putin said, at a meeting with regional authorities.

The president urged the attending governors to use professional historians, experts, public leaders and youth activists working together to rebut the lies and falsities being leveled against Russia and its past.

© Sputnik / Mikhail Klementyev Putin Vows to Defend Russia's Role in WWII Victory Over Nazism

Earlier in January, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said, during his visit to Berlin, that Kiev "remembers about the Soviet invasion in Ukraine and Germany." Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russia's parliament, said that this statement insulted the memory of those killed during the war.

The same month, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna, speaking on national radio, claimed that the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated by Ukrainians since the operation was carried out by the a military detachment called First Ukrainian Front.

© AP Photo / Markus Schreiber Yatsenyuk Rewrites History: ‘USSR Invaded Germany’

In reality, in January 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army, consisting of Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Armenian and other soldiers from the entire Soviet Union, liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Following these recent statements, the Russian President said that all attempts to revise Russia's contribution to the victory in the fight against Nazism during World War II should be viewed as a glorification of Nazi crimes.