The exhibition “NATO: The Story of Deception” opened at the World Youth Festival site

The exhibition “NATO: The Story of Deception,” created by the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, opened today at the World Youth Festival site. Every day of WYF is dedicated to a specific meaning that runs through all events and formats of the program. March 2 is the day of “Responsibility for the fate of the world.” The exhibition will be open to participants and guests throughout the Festival from March 2 to March 7. 

“Caring young people have gathered here, who care about what will happen to the world tomorrow. That is why we decided to present here the exhibition “NATO: The Story of Deception”, in which we will tell about the fundamental hypocritical nature of NATO, whose peace-loving rhetoric does not correspond to real deeds. And I thank everyone who took part in the creation of this exhibition. Its peculiarity is that it was designed by young artists, and our content is accompanied by murals. Through the language of art, we want to convey the truth to everyone who comes to this exhibition,” said Irina Velikanova, Director General of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia.

The exhibition presents materials from the collections of Russian museums, archives, leading Russian news agencies, as well as items collected by a special inter-museum working group created by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in 2022 to collect artifacts in the territories of the special military operation (SMO). According to the program director of the WYF Sergei Pershin, it is no coincidence that this exhibition became part of the general exhibition space of the Festival. 

“These days, on the sites of the Sirius Federal Territory, the City of Peace has spread out, to which 20 thousand young people from 180 countries came to discuss the future. A fair future, mosaic, multipolar, where everyone’s voice is heard, regardless of what country and continent you represent, what faith you adhere to. Why did the City of Peace appear in Russia? Because Russia is a country that has been proving one simple thing for centuries: a large number of different nationalities with different cultural characteristics and religions can move forward creatively. And also because our country today is fighting for a just world, not even for itself. For there to be no hegemony, for it to be polycentric,” , emphasized Sergei Pershin.

The main goal of the exhibition is to most fully tell the story of lies and deception, aggression, terror and wars that the alliance unleashed throughout its existence. Visitors will be able to study the history of the origins of the organization and secret operations during the Cold War, trace the chronicle of NATO military operations in Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, learn about the latest steps the military bloc is taking to strengthen its influence in the world - including in Ukraine.

Experts from the Russian Historical Society participated in the work on the exhibition. Co-chairman of the society and rector of MGIMO Anatoly Torkunov noted at the opening the importance of such a project. 

“We understand that we live in a very difficult world, where there are positive emotions, but there are a lot of challenges, there are still a lot of troubles. And when you come to this exhibition, you understand that for many decades we and all of humanity were faced with very serious challenges created by the North Atlantic bloc. Obviously, it is important for young people to know what the world looks like, who poses a threat, what challenges they encounter almost every day,” said Anatoly Torkunov.

Basic information at the exhibition is presented in Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. Visitors will be able to find more detailed information about the exhibits using QR codes. 

Roman Karmanov, Director General of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, which supported the exhibition, expressed the hope that for many young people the project will become a starting point for studying history. 

“We are, of course, at a Festival that celebrates life, youth and vibrancy. But young people are in a very difficult situation. And this also applies to young people around the world, because they live in an era of information noise, fakes, a huge number of very professional organizations are trying to manipulate facts, mixing them with what cannot be called reliable information. And in this situation, what museum representatives do cannot be overestimated. They provide an opportunity to see and evaluate with your own eyes those facts, circumstances, data that cannot be disputed. And it’s impossible to think about the future without relying on a solid foundation of knowledge,” noted Roman Karmanov.

The exhibition is presented to the public for the first time at WYF. According to the Director General of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia Irina Velikanova, in the near future it will be shown in Moscow and Russian regions. 

The World Youth Festival is held on the federal territory of "Sirius" from March 1 to 7, 2024 in accordance with the Decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to develop international youth cooperation.

The organizer of the World Youth Festival is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the operator of the WYF-2024 is the Directorate of the World Youth Festival.