Vladimir Putin: Deploying Soviet tanks to Hungary in 1956 was a mistake

The Russian president says the United States is making the same mistakes as the Soviet Union did back then.

Kubinka, 2023. augusztus 14. Vlagyimir Putyin orosz elnök videókapcsolaton keresztül mond beszédet a Hadsereg-2023 Nemzetközi Haditechniai Fórum megnyitóünnepségén a Moszkvához közeli kubinkai Patriot parkban 2023. augusztus 14-én. A haditechnikai bemutatót augusztus 14. és augusztus 20. között rendezik az orosz védelmi minisztérium kubinkai légibázisán és az alabinói gyakorlóterén. MTI/AP/Kreml pool/Mihail Klimentyev Fotó: Mihail Klimentyev

When asked about the Soviet Union's colonialist policies, "It was a mistake," Russian President Vladimir Putin said of the deployment of tanks to crush the protests in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968, Reuters writes. 

It is not right to do anything in foreign policy that harms the interests of other peoples,

- President Putin said, referring to Russia's position that the West is interfering in its affairs and ignoring its security concerns about NATO's expansion eastwards. 

Putin believes the United States is now making the same mistakes as the Soviet Union did back then, and that Washington "doesn't have friends, only interests". Reuters, however, points out that the Russian president is hurting the interests of another country by having launched a war against Ukraine last February. 

As the news agency also recalls, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was crushed by Soviet tanks and troops, and at least 2,600 Hungarians lost their lives in the fighting. The Prague Spring of 1968 was also ended by the invasion of Soviet forces, which, according to Czech historians, resulted in 137 deaths.

As Magyar Nemzet already highlighted in an earlier article, a Russian history textbook for 11th graders - written by one of Mr Putin's advisers, Vladimir Medinsky and claimed that the 1956 Hungarian Revolution was a fascist uprising - caused an uproar. Later the Russian Embassy in Budapest denied this content in the final version of the book.

Magyar Nemzet also contacted the Kremlin about the case. In a letter addressed to Dmitry Peskov, President Putin's spokesman, we asked:

"The picture below shows the current President of Russia laying a wreath and paying tribute to the heroes of 1956 in 2006. Our question is: has there been any change since 2006 that has led to a reassessment of this historic event, or is this tribute still relevant today?"

 

Cover photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: MTI/AP/Kreml/Mihail Klimentyev)