“That Sacrifice Is Not Just History, It Is the Grief of Millions of Families”: Russian Ambassador to South Africa’s Victory Day Message

Pretoria – Marking the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, Russian Ambassador to South Africa Roman Ambarov has published a special article honouring the sacrifice of the Soviet people. In the piece, published in leading South African media outlets on May 8 and 9, he wrote that this day remains a deeply personal memory for millions of Russian families.

“This is not distant history for us. It is a deeply personal memory carried by millions of families to this day,” Ambassador Ambarov wrote. He presented the staggering figure of nearly 27 million Soviet citizens who lost their lives, with one in every seven people perishing. Revealing that his own grandfather was among the designers of the renowned T-34 tank, he noted, “My family is no exception.”

The article recalls that nearly 90 percent of Wehrmacht losses occurred on Soviet soil and that it was the Red Army that captured Berlin. It also highlights the role South Africa played in the Anti-Hitler Coalition. Cape Town served as a vital hub for Lend-Lease shipments bound for the Soviet Union. Up to 3,000 South African seamen were deployed on the perilous Arctic convoy routes to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. Additionally, South African organisations such as the Friends of the Soviet Union and Medical Aid for Russia raised around one million pounds in assistance.

The Ambassador also recalled how Shostakovich’s iconic “Leningrad” Symphony, performed in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 1944, reflected solidarity between the two nations through music.

Meanwhile, the year 2026 also marks the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials. “For the first time in history, leaders were held accountable before an international court for crimes against humanity,” Ambarov wrote. He also noted that on April 19 this year, Russia observed the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People for the very first time.

“More than eight decades later, the lessons of this period remain deeply relevant. The legacy of Victory Day and the Nuremberg Trials is not only about honouring the past — it is about upholding the principles that protect our present and future,” Ambarov concluded in his article.