German media draws attention to photos of Russian missiles inscribed ‘To Berlin!’

The German tabloid Bild published several photographs of Russian naval aviation training exercises featuring military equipment labeled with the slogan “to Berlin.” A Russian Defense Ministry source told Interfax that these images were “photoshopped, or simply [show] a desire to inflame anti-Russian sentiment.”

The photos show missiles inscribed with the words “To Berlin!” and “For Stalin!” Both slogans were used in the Soviet Union during World War II.

According to a source in the Defense Ministry, “There are no slogans ever inscribed on weapons—not during storage, and certainly not during military drills.”

The German newspaper published the photographs on August 12. The same images appeared on August 7 on the “Central Military-Navy Portal,” a Russian military forum. The portal stated that the photos were taken during Baltic fleet drills.