There were already major parades to remember the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. But this year, perhaps due to the internal impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Red Square did not shine.
What most caught the attention of the observers was that hardly a tank passed by and there were no overflights by combat planes. The tank was an old but powerful T-34 that finished off the Germans and was among those who recaptured Stalingrad, won the Battle of the Kursk Arches, and liberated Ukraine, then a Soviet republic.
In the five years of conflict (1940-1945) of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviets lost just over 20 million people. World War II started in 1939.
The first victory parade was on May 9, 1945, just a week after Hitler committed suicide in Berlin. It began with a small cavalry charge with General Gregory Zhukov before the eyes of Stalin and other communist leaders at the Kremlin wall.
With the war in the Ukraine and its losses to the Russian troops, it was a much reduced display. President Putin’s speech remained. In a 10-minute address, the president repeated slogans that he has uttered many times since the invasion of Ukraine last year. He insisted that the world was at a turning point and that Russia remains engaged in a patriotic fight for its future.
He accused “Western globalist elites” of sowing Russophobia and aggressive nationalism, while Ukrainians have become “hostages to a coup” and “to the ambitions of the West”.
Yet the Kremlin chief did not address the challenges facing Russia as his forces prepare for the expected major Ukraine counter-offensive, nor did he chart any paths to victory.
The speech came after Russian forces launched another large barrage of missiles early Tuesday morning, mostly in kyiv. Ukraine claims it shot down 23 of the 25 missiles and no casualties were reported. It was the second night in a row of major Russian airstrikes and the fifth so far this month.
