Victory Day on 9 May: what is Russia celebrating?
Russia marked the 79th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany on May 9 with the usual military parades. Vladimir Putin and his propaganda organs drew clear parallels between the battle against Hitler and Russia's current war in Ukraine. Putin needs to take a self-critical look in the mirror, commentators suggest.
Echoes of Riefenstahl
For Kirill Martynov, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Europe, the military parade on Red Square is the height of militarism:
“Visually and rhetorically, this event is on a par with Leni Riefenstahl's films. Columns of soldiers in stylised World War II uniforms move through the centre of Moscow in the snow. Putin gives a speech about an endless war, of which he has appointed himself the leader. Heads of state from Tajikistan to Cuba, whose common trait is complete indifference to the fate of their own citizens, watch from the stands. ... This parade could not be a more terrible symbol.”
A debased commemoration
Kremlin propaganda has distorted the meaning of this public holiday, TV journalist Kirill Nabutov rages in a Telegram post republished by Echo:
“For me, 9 May is the only real public holiday. ... I celebrate it every year in memory of those who fought in this truly patriotic war. ... I grew up among them, I'll never forget that. But now - what the hell have become! People hail the capture of this or that village in Ukraine and the thousands of corpses, and bless Russia in memory of their grandfathers - those Russian soldiers who defeated Hitler. As if the Ukrainian soldiers had defeated someone else and fought for a different army! How can we not curse when we see this?”
Putin's own state is fascist
The annual celebrations in Moscow are no longer about the victory against Nazi Germany, says The Spectator:
“Over two years into the war in Ukraine, Russia's Victory Day no longer truly celebrates the genuine triumph over fascism seen in 1945. The irony of the fascistic state Putin has cultivated in Russia is something he cares little for. With the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war approaching next year, the Russian president will only use it as another opportunity to paint himself as the isolated crusader out to save the world against itself.”