Russia has refused to permit the release of a film about the mass deportations of entire ethnic groups on Stalin’s orders during World War II, calling it “anti-Russian and a falsification of history.”
The historical drama shot in Chechnya details how the Soviets forcibly deported the whole Chechen nation and the Ingush people almost half a million individuals, from their homeland in the North Caucasus to Central Asia in the winter of 1944, accusing them of lacking loyalty to the state.
A culture ministry official condemned the film as a “historical falsification”
“We consider the film will promote ethnic hatred,” wrote Vyacheslav Telnov, director of the ministry s cinema department, in a letter in response to a request for a release certificate.
Titled “Ordered to Forget”, the film was intended to mark the 70th anniversary of the deportations this year.
