[Regnum] At its plenary session on December 16, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill establishing April 19 as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Peoples of the USSR, committed by the Nazis and their allies during the Great Patriotic War.
The initiative's authors noted that the chosen date has a historical basis. On April 19, 1943, Decree No. 39 was issued—the first official legal act that formalized the targeted and large-scale policy of the Nazis and their collaborators to exterminate civilians in the occupied territories. This act also established the legal basis for holding those responsible accountable.
"Our duty is to preserve the memory of the heroism of our grandfathers and great-grandfathers who saved the entire world from the Nazis. And to prevent others from forgetting the truth about the atrocities of the Nazis and the heroism of the Soviet people," said State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
On April 21, President Vladimir Putin signed the law "On the perpetuation of the memory of the victims of the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945." Vladimir Medinsky, Chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society, noted that approximately 15–16 million people fell victim to the genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany in the USSR.