We debunk one of the most persistent myths of Russian disinformation about Lend-Lease. During the Second World War, the Soviet Union received massive supplies of aircraft, tanks, lorries, fuel, food, medicines, machine tools, metals and technology from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
But Russian propaganda prefers not to mention it. Because it completely shatters the Kremlin’s myth of a ‘self-sufficient empire’ that supposedly bore the burden of the war all on its own.
That is precisely why Moscow is reacting so nervously today to the aid being provided to Ukraine by its partners. The historical parallel is too obvious. The Kremlin understands perfectly well that an international coalition poses a fatal threat to any empire that launches a war of aggression.
Do you know which aircraft Oleksandr Pokryshkin used to score most of his aerial victories? And which fighter jet did Crimean Tatar Sultan Amet-Khan fly while fighting for Donbas and Crimea? And which vehicles did the Red Army use to transport artillery, shells, infantry and ‘Katyusha’ rocket launchers?
