29.10.2020 - 17:46
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Actualització: 29.10.2020 - 18:46
One detail about the newest raid against Catalonia’s pro-independence movement by Spain’s paramilitary police (Guardia Civil) has not gone unnoticed: the name of the operation. It seems that the Guardia Civil wanted to pay tribute to the fascist soldiers of the Blue Division by calling it “Operation Volkhov”.
Volkhov is a Russian city east of Saint Petersburg and also the name of the river that runs through the city. On 18 October 1941, during WW2, the Blue Division celebrated a small military victory by crossing the river by surprise and assaulting its target. The Blue Division was a unit of volunteer Spaniards that fought in favor of Hitler during World War II, mainly in the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union’s Red Army.
The naming of Operation Volkhov comes in addition to the statement by Spanish judge Joaquín Aguirre that allowed the police operation to take place, pretending that Russia offered 10,000 soldiers to help Catalonia achieve its independence in 2017.
