MOSCOW (Realist English). The 3rd International Anti‑Fascist Forum has opened in Moscow. The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), Chairman of the Party’s Central Committee Gennady Zyuganov, addressing delegates from more than 100 countries of the world, stated that the fight against Nazism today requires the same courage and unity as in 1945, when the Soviet people crushed Hitler’s Germany at a cost of 27 million lives.
“Only communists defeated fascists”
Opening the forum, Zyuganov recalled the decisive role of communists in the Great Patriotic War.
“When we stormed Berlin in May 1945, finishing off the fascist beast in its lair, seven out of ten soldiers were communists and Komsomol members,” the politician stressed.
He noted that Soviet people believed they had put a “fat full stop” to the “brown plague”. However, as Zyuganov declared, “the Anglo‑Saxons did not calm down.” In his words, the Western powers bred the “Bandera infection” in the place of a flourishing Soviet republic.
“It was a flourishing republic, a model of life for the great Soviet country, where more than 50 million people lived, where the best aircraft, missiles and ships were built. It was an absolutely educated population, and there was a very dignified and flourishing life,” the CPRF leader said, describing the Ukrainian SSR before the 2014 coup d’état.
In his conviction, all of this was turned “into a bleeding wound – into a Nazi lair that has now spread its terrorist metastases across the entire planet.”
Russia is paying a huge price to fight the universal evil
Zyuganov drew a direct parallel between the victims of the Great Patriotic War and today’s losses.
“Today we are paying a huge price to overcome this universal evil,” he told forum participants.
The politician stressed that fighting terrorism requires special qualities.
“We must understand perfectly well: to fight terrorism, you need will, unique experience, knowledge of your history, and you must do everything possible to unite peoples as much as possible in this struggle,” Zyuganov said.
“They hoped for Trump, but he has started seven wars”
Turning to contemporary geopolitics, the CPRF leader strongly criticised the policy of the United States, regardless of who occupies the White House.
“Some hoped Trump would come and mind his own business, but he has already started seven wars and continues to strangle everyone who resists their violence and their desire to establish planetary dictatorship,” Zyuganov declared.
According to him, big capital has been forming fascist organisations for a century, financing barbarism and today sowing “evil and violence” around the world. To illustrate this idea, an exhibition was organised within the forum showing that 35 states have been attacked by imperialists over the past hundred years, and “colour revolutions” have been staged in nearly 50 countries.
Symbolic sites of the forum: Minsk, Moscow, Khatyn, Poklonnaya Hill
Zyuganov dwelled in detail on the history of the anti‑fascist forums, emphasising their symbolic significance. The first forum three years ago was opened in Minsk – on the birthday of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
“Why? Because every third Belarusian paid with his life for the victory over fascism,” the politician explained.
At that time, delegations from 60 countries visited Khatyn – the Belarusian village that the Nazis and Bandera followers burned alive together with its inhabitants.
“Those who came suddenly felt personal danger from this barbarism,” Zyuganov said of the foreign participants’ reaction.
The second forum was held in Moscow on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Victory. Participants began a procession from the Alexander Garden, walked across Red Square, stopped at Lenin’s Mausoleum – at the Soviet necropolis “where 32 marshals and generals lie, led by Zhukov, who ensured the defeat of Hitler’s fascism.”
Then the delegates climbed Poklonnaya Hill and walked through the main museum of the Great Patriotic War, which symbolises 1,418 days of war.
“Everyone came out as if from a personal purgatory, felt and understood what Victory is and what price our people paid to defeat fascism,” Zyuganov noted.
Forum results: representation and thanks
According to Zyuganov, the current, third forum has brought together 180 delegations from almost 100 countries. Among the participants are representatives of communist, workers’ and people’s‑patriotic parties and movements – true followers in the fight against terrorism and fascism.
The politician thanked the Russian leadership – President Vladimir Putin, the speakers of the Federal Assembly chambers, members of the government – for supporting the event and for their personal involvement.
Special words of gratitude were addressed to those who are fighting at the front today.
“I thank our comrades, communists and warriors, who are fighting today, liberating Ukraine from the Nazi invasion,” Zyuganov said.
Presentation of comrades
Zyuganov also introduced to the forum participants the key organisers of the event: First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov, First Deputy Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee Yuri Afonin, Deputy Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee Dmitry Novikov and Deputy Leonid Kalashnikov.
He particularly stressed the role of Afonin, who on a special assignment got acquainted with the latest technologies in China – where almost 80% of the world’s robots are now produced, and where Beijing demonstrates a unique experience in fighting poverty and mastering super‑modern technologies.
“I declare our forum open,” the CPRF leader said.
Concluding the opening of the forum, Zyuganov announced the screening of a documentary film revealing the history of fascism and imperialist aggression, after which the participants moved on to the plenary session.
Addresses by the leaders of Russia and Belarus
Participants in the forum received welcoming addresses from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Putin stated that in the face of regional conflicts and growing global instability, it is extremely important to unite the efforts of all constructive forces to build a just, democratic, multipolar world:
“With regional conflicts and growing global instability, it is important to unite the work of all constructive forces to build a just, democratic, multipolar world. Together, to counter the spread of destructive ideologies, xenophobia, neo-Nazism, anti-Semitism, and Russophobia across the planet. To defend the historical truth about the Second World War and the ordinary heroes who saved the peoples of Europe from extermination and enslavement.”
Mishustin expressed his conviction that the forum would become an effective platform for constructive discussions and meaningful dialogue in the name of peace, security, and well‑being on the planet.
Lukashenko stressed that every year the forum brings together more countries, parties and movements in their common aspiration for a safe and just world order. According to the Belarusian leader, international solidarity among supporters of communist ideas in countering the ideology of violence is not only a necessity but also a duty to future generations.