This slogan, supposedly commemorating all those who died in World War II, became popular in the post-war times in the USSR. However, it is a myth. The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance noted that how many people actually died during World War II was not counted in the USSR or later in Russia. The official list of war victims is not complete: the USSR did not recognize the events before June 22, 1941, so participants in the so-called "border conflicts" were "forgotten"; the defeats of 1941-early 1942 were "forgotten" and not mentioned; prisoners of war, Holocaust victims, and the remaining workers were not mentioned either; disabled war veterans were purposely removed to boarding camps away from sight.

"How many people really died during World War II was not counted in the Soviet Union or later in Russia. After all, only those families who received death certificates received payments for the dead. There were no families of the missing. The authorities simply saved on these families. It is noteworthy that today Russia's attitude toward its dead has not changed. In the war with Ukraine, too, they are keeping the casualties quiet. Many soldiers will remain missing, it's more convenient and cheaper for Russia to do so," said the UINP.