Russia's Putin says reverting to Stalingrad name up to city residents

(Reuters) - Kremlin person Vladimir Putin said connected Wednesday it was up to residents of Volgograd to determine whether the metropolis should revert to the sanction of Stalingrad, arsenic it was called erstwhile Soviet forces defeated Nazi invaders successful World War Two's bloodiest battle.

Ahead of adjacent week's commemorations of the 80th day of the triumph of the Soviet Union and its allies implicit Nazi Germany, the contented has been raised of restoring the wartime sanction of the confederate Russian city.

Putin, quoted by authorities quality bureau RIA, was asked astatine a forum astir restoring the city's erstwhile sanction - a delicate contented successful presumption of the relation with the horrors of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's astir three-decade rule.

But helium said the thought was "logical" successful presumption of the humanities value of the battle.

"This is for residents to decide. We tin deliberation astir it. Residents volition person to beryllium asked," RIA quoted him arsenic saying.

"There is surely logic successful this. If you region the ideology of this arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, the sanction is of people linked to victory. But we inactive person to clarify what a bulk of residents think."

Putin issued a decree connected Tuesday renaming Volgograd airdrome Stalingrad "in bid to perpetuate the Victory of the Soviet radical successful the Great Patriotic War". Veterans groups person led calls for the restoration of the wartime name.

Russians notation to World War Two, from 1941 to 1945 dating from the Nazi penetration of the Soviet Union, arsenic the Great Patriotic War.

Authorities are preparing lavish ceremonies to people the anniversary, though leaders of astir Western states are staying distant much than 3 years into Moscow's penetration of Ukraine.

Putin has compared the 2022 penetration of Ukraine to the combat against Nazis, presenting the warfare to Russians arsenic a "special subject operation" to "demilitarise" and "denazify" Ukraine.

Stalingrad, renamed Volgograd successful 1961 arsenic portion of a process of "destalinisation", was the bloodiest conflict of the war, erstwhile the Soviet Red Army, astatine a outgo of much than 1 cardinal casualties, broke the backmost of German penetration forces successful 1942-43.

Some 22 cardinal to 25 cardinal Soviet citizens are estimated to person been killed successful the war. Soviet Ukraine suffered wide demolition and historians accidental astatine slightest 8 cardinal died.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Stephen Coates)