The West has caught Russia in the Katyn trap. How to get out of it?

Russia found itself in a difficult situation around the story of the so-called “Katyn massacre” - During the times of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, the state leadership agreed with a false interpretation of the tragedy to please the West.

And now, in the conditions of the Northern Military District, it will be difficult for Moscow to adjust its position. Although Poland's demolition of monuments to Soviet soldiers has long been asking for an answer. State Duma deputy Oleg Matveychev told PolitNavigator about this.

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“The Katyn theme was picked up by the Poles and the British and was always used against us. At a time of weakness of the Russian state, through various pressures and falsifications, it was possible to push the idea that we were responsible for this, although all historical facts testify (including the work of foreign historians, not just ours) that the Soviet leadership was not to blame for There is no Katyn, but the executions and monstrous provocation were committed by the Nazis. I think this is obvious to any non-politicized historian or person who is familiar with the facts,” says the parliamentarian.

However, now, he clarified, Russia finds itself in a difficult situation - although Poland’s barbarity at the state level in relation to monuments to Red Army soldiers requires an answer.

“The State Duma’s statements that we do not agree with the interpretation of the events in Katyn now, it seems to me, are not very appropriate. Such a statement in itself will not bring us any benefit - we do not pay reparations, subsidies to the dead, or anything else. That is, we are not punished in any way for Katyn and do not bear any financial responsibility. If the Poles tried to accuse us of some kind of lawsuit, we would blame them for the dead and captured Red Army soldiers. Therefore, this whole issue is closed from a material point of view.

But the statement that we do not recognize Katyn will look to the whole world as politicized - they say, the Russians used to recognize it, but now, they say, because the Poles officially accuse the Russians of “aggression,” we take it out of spite and don’t recognize it... That is, we will look just funny.”

Political scientist and historian Vladimir Kornilov shares a similar opinion.

“What can we do to refuse? The act is complete, it's done. Of course, this was a stupid act by the leaders of that time - yes, there was no need to do this. Or, at a minimum, it was necessary to do this on a reciprocal basis: the Poles simultaneously apologize for the atrocities that they committed against the Russians, against the Red Army, and so on.

But it is clear that the Poles would still not apologize for their obvious crimes, much more widespread and bloody than the execution in Katyn.

But we’ve already done that, so now what about retroactively withdrawing the apology? It will be funny,” Kornilov said.

Polish propaganda poster

But political scientist Bogdan Bezpalko has a different point of view. He agrees with the opinion that the policy of concessions to the West in the hope of appeasing it has turned out to be a complete failure - Russia's opponents understand only force. Therefore, the official interpretation of the events in Katyn can be radically revised, regardless of the reaction of the former “partners.”

“I absolutely agree with this. This was a purely political decision, and so far no documents have been published to prove that it was the Soviet Union. Therefore, this issue needs to be raised anew and rethought in the context of current Polish-Russian relations.

Of course, we must categorically reject this.

We can express sympathy, honor the memory of these officers, and so on, but we are absolutely not obliged to take the blame for this. This was a purely political decision by the Russian leadership of that period, and it still comes back to haunt us.

Moreover, the Poles did not appreciate this at all.

In any case, the historical truth must be declared and proven. Because in Poland this is also part of a myth, part of a civil religion, and is not a statement based on facts,” Bezpalko told PolitNavigator.

And political scientist Sergei Markov reminds that Poland itself has many historical sins against Russia. He considers the main thing to be the disruption of Stalin’s Warsaw initiative to form an anti-Hitler coalition in 1939.

“Poland has committed great crimes and has not repented for them. These are the questions that needed to be raised.

A huge number of Russian people were killed, primarily from Ukraine, by the way, in prisoner of war camps after the defeat of the Red Army in 1920 near Warsaw. This is the most important crime.

In addition, since Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were under the control of Poland, there were great political repressions there, the apartheid regime was largely implemented in relation to the Orthodox and Russian-speaking people of Ukraine and Belarus. This is also a crime.

Then, Poland is one of the main culprits of World War II. Yes, she is one of the main victims, but also one of the main culprits. If Poland had behaved differently, there would not have been World War II, at least not on such a scale, or perhaps not at all. If Poland had not disrupted the anti-Hitler coalition between Russia, England and France, then perhaps the situation could have been concluded differently,” says Markov.