I do think that it means Soviet Union not its role in the war in the quote Otherwise it would be a rather weird sentence for the Telegraph Compare with those who belittle the Soviet Union s role in the war or criticise the role of Soviet Union in any way vs with those who belittle the Soviet Union s role in the war or criticise Soviet Union in any way However is the draft of the proposed bill available for public Might be easiest just to check the original source instead of looking for quotes