24.04.2025
Perspectives on victory from different continents, fighting the falsification of history and values passed down through generations discussed in the international dialogue at RSUH.
For Russians, it's the Great Patriotic War; for others, World War II. Different names yet the same war, the same enemy, a shared Victory.
On April 23, ahead of the Victory Day celebrations, RSUH hosted the international roundtable "80th Anniversary of the Great Victory: Perception in BRICS Countries", bringing together BRICS representatives for a dialogue on collective historical memory and modern approaches to understanding the common victory over fascism.
The roundtable was chaired by Vera Zabotkina, Acting Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at RSUH.
Speakers highlighted the danger of manipulating history for political purposes and shared their countries’ experiences in preserving historical memory, contrasting their approaches with those of the West.
"Our country had neither democracy nor freedom, yet we fought for freedom abroad. We teach WWII history differently than they do in the West," said Kandarpa Das, Rector of Girijananda Chowdhury University (India), noting that even now, in pursuing foreign policy, India remembered its colonial past, and despite flattering words and certain promises from the West, it knew exactly what to expect from which country, and made decisions itself: “We cooperate with Russia - this is our choice. If Great Britain doesn’t like it, it’s none of their business”.
Berlian Helmy supported the idea, warning that politicizing history led to ignorance among future generations, and stressing Indonesia’s commitment to its own historical narrative.
Participants discussed how war memory shaped foreign policy strategies, how shared historical experiences fostered humanitarian cooperation, and the role of Victory in intergenerational dialogue.
The roundtable featured contributions from Wang Xiaojü (Deputy Chairman of the Chinese Society for the Study of the History of the USSR and Eastern European Countries), Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu (UNISA, South Africa), Fabiano Melnichuk (Professor of the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), Raymond Nkwenti Fru (Sol Plaatje University, South Africa), and several RSUH representatives including Sergey Pilipenko, Vasily Khristoforov, Nikita Filin, and Oleg Khlopov.
