What world leader did a grandmother in Klaipėda receive a letter from?

“Please accept our warmest congratulations on the 71st anniversary of World War II. For you, the veterans, we and the future generations owe our lives, the opportunity to work, raise children, to love the homeland and to value peace. No matter how many years have passed since the glorious May 1945, the descendants will always remember your heroism,” says the letter written in Russian language.

The woman was born in Russia’s Pskov region, during World War II she and her parents were deported to a labour camp in Germany. After the war, the family was sent to rebuild the USSR and thus found herself in Klaipėda. She worked in Lithuania for all her life, created a family, but never actually learned Lithuanian.

“She was very happy with the greetings. In Lithuania she feels quite isolated due to her age and the language barrier, so Russian TV and such letters are meaningful channels to keep relations with Russia. She was very proud of that letter,” said the woman’s grandson Andrius.

“Generally attention to human beings is a positive thing, but such things always call for questions and checks – experience shows that the Russians often use such things to cover their propaganda,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Linas Linkevičius.

“Such congratulations and work with compatriots‘ network is not surprising, it has always existed and is continuing to exist,” said Nerijus Maliukevičius, lecturer at the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science.

“All the World War II victory topics are important for Putin’s grand narrative of the Soviet victory over Fascism linking to current events – Putin’s Kremlin struggle with modern neo-Nazis, neo-fascist,” said Maliukevičius.