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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday looked ahead to next week's 80th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, calling it "an occasion for shame," Deutsche Welle reported. In her video podcast, she also criticized the ongoing crackdown against political opposition figures and civil society in Russia and Belarus.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's commemorations, Merkel noted how millions lost their lives — especially in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states and other former Soviet republics —  when Adolf Hitler's forces invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

"For us Germans, this day is an occasion for shame," Merkel said, adding there is no forgetting, "we owe that to the millions of victims and their descendants."

Merkel offered gratitude for "reconciliation" while criticizing ongoing crackdowns against opposition figures and civil society in Russia and Belarus.

She called the repressions painful, noting "how civil society engagement in Russia, but also in Belarus, has recently been restricted, even made impossible."

"When peaceful demonstrators and disfavored opposition members are locked away, it puts a heavy strain on our relations," Merkel said.