In his speech, Putin offered the audience a slightly modified picture of the Second World War. In accordance with Russian traditions, he said that the Great Patriotic War, as the conflict is called in Russia, began in July 1941, when the Germans “treacherously attacked the Soviet Union.”
He thus forgot that the Soviet Union started the Second World War together with Germany with a coordinated attack on Poland.
It is not surprising then that Putin also attributed the main credit for the defeat of the Third Reich to the Soviet forces, while he practically accused the countries exposed to Nazi terror of collaboration.
“We will always remember the heroism of the Soviet people – that it was they who decisively contributed to the defeat of Nazism, saved their country, saved the world, put an end to total and merciless evil, and returned sovereignty to those states that capitulated to Nazi Germany and became humble accomplices of its crimes,” Putin said in his speech.
Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian leadership has been trying more and more to reconnect the country with its Soviet past and thus undo the pro-Western turn that occurred after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Precisely this effort is clearly visible in Putin’s speech, which smoothly transitioned from celebrating the eighty-year-old victory against the Nazis to calling for triumph in the conflict on the territory of neighboring Ukraine, which the Russians invaded in February 2022.
“Our cause is just”
“The great act of the victorious generation inspires the soldiers who today conduct special military operations. They face an aggressive force armed and supported by the entire NATO. And yet our heroes march forward… I firmly believe that our cause is just! We are together! Victory has always been and always will be ours! Glory to the victorious people! Glory to the veterans! Glory to the Russian Armed Forces! Happy holidays! Happy Victory Day! Hooray!” Putin finished his speech
This year’s military parade in Moscow was more modest than ever before. For example, military equipment did not participate, which the Russian defense justified by the current operational situation. According to analysts, this step is tantamount to Russia admitting the loss of strength and defense capabilities.
Instead, after Putin’s speech on Red Square, they only showed videos that described Russian military equipment – unmanned systems, warships and nuclear missiles, the Russian service of the BBC station wrote on its website. On the footage from Red Square, which was broadcast live by RIA Novosti, marching soldiers from individual branches of the army could be seen.
The list of foreign guests at Rudé náměstí was also very modest this year. In the footage broadcast by the Russian state agency RIA Novosti, President Putin was seen on the tribune in Red Square with several world statesmen, including Belarusian authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko, who is one of Moscow’s closest allies. Slovak Prime Minister Fico, who is also in Moscow, did not participate in the parade.
Photo: Anastasia Barashkova, Reuters
