A Finnish soldier depicted in a military reenactment, St. Petersburg, May 2025. Photo: Rotonda

The St. Petersburg Artillery Museum banned Nazi uniforms during a World War II reenactment on the city’s Night of Museums earlier this month, local media outlet Rotonda reported on Tuesday.

St. Petersburg held its annual Night of Museums from 17 May to 18 May. This year, the theme was Heroes, in honour of the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, that Vladimir Putin announced in January.

According to Rotonda, the Artillery Museum carries out historical military reenactments each year to mark the occasion. However, this year the museum’s management forbade the actors from wearing Wehrmacht uniforms. Consequently, the Soviet troops had no one to fight with, and no World War II battles were depicted.

“As the head of the museum, I had no desire to put them [German soldiers] on show. Today we are showing neo-Nazis at an exhibition dedicated to the special military operation,” said Valery Krylov, head of the museum, referring to the war in Ukraine.

Rotonda said the re-enactors who usually play Wehrmacht soldiers were dressed in Finnish uniforms this year. They portrayed men sitting around in their camp talking and drinking tea. The actors who played the Soviet soldiers did likewise.