President Vladimir V. Putin will preside over a Victory Day Parade in the Red Square on Friday, a great celebration of the Soviet triumph against Nazi Germany 80 years ago it is noteworthy that Russia fits glories and justify.
Sitting Mr. Putin in the stands erected in front of Vladimir Lenin’s mausoleum, it will be the leaders of China, Brazil and more than 20 states, an effort of the Kremlin to show how the countries of the “Global South” aim to present a counterweight to the west.
You will see a process or soldiers, and boxes of armored vehicles, tanks and nuclear missile throwers. A regiment of Chinese soldiers will march in the Red Square before the Kremlin’s crimson walls, and combat planes are expected to fly over Moscow.
Why is this year’s parade significant?
This year, the parade is expected to be the largest since the large -scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine in 2022. Russia will welcome the greatest number of foreign dignitaries since 2015 and their participation or Alleguewest Westegimed.
At the end of April, Mr. Putin announced a high unilateral three -day fire in Ukraine, as of May 8 to mark the celebrations. President Volodymyr Zensky or Ukraine rejected the proposal, describing it as “theatrical show”, and proposes a 30 -day truce that could allow what he called meaningful negotiations to end the war. Mr. Zensky also said that Ukraine would not sacrifice security guarantees to the guests of the parade in Moscow.
In the days that took the victory in Russia, Ukraine has increased its attempts to reach Moscow and the surrounding areas, which leads to the speculation that the parade itself could be white. Russia in recent days has also attacked Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv.
“It is completely fair that the Russian sky, the sky of the aggressor, is not calm today,” Zensky said in one direction on Wednesday.
What is its meaning for Russia?
The parade will commemorate the annual holidays that have traditionally transcended the many divisions of Russia as an expression of national pride. The Soviet Union lost more than 26 million lives during the war, touching almost all relatives.
However, after the invasion of Russia of Ukraine in 2022, the parade and the great celebrations around them have become a point of division in Russia and beyond.
The Kremlin has tried to justify the invasion by falsely stating that the government in kyiv has been kidnapped by a group of Nazis. Mr. Zensky is of Jewish origin, his grandfather fought in the war and the members of his extensive family died in the Holocaust.
Historical perspective
Western countries celebrated their own victory day in Europe’s celebrations, but on Thursday. The difference comes from the time difference between Moscow and Berlin. At the moment when Nazi Germany signed its unconditional surrender, midnight had already passed in Moscow.
The difference has become a symbolic, dividing the former allies and their celebrations into two distinctive fields. For example, since 2023, Ukraine has also been celebrating on May 8, symbolizing a break with Russia and its Soviet attacks.
Importance of Victory Day for Putin
Mr. Putin has a deep personal history related to Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. His brother Viktor died of diphtheria in an orphanage in the German siege of Leningrad Duration of World War II and was buried in a massive grave there. Mr. Putin’s father was seriously injured and his mother almost died of hunger.
Putin has said that his parents did not hate towards the Germans, but that for their generation it was different.
“We were raised in Soviet books, movies,” Putin wrote. “And we hate.”
Victory Day parades in Russia
The first parade of Victory Day was a hero in 1945, shortly after the capitulation of Germany. May 9 was declared a public holiday. Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union at the time, then ended the parades until they brought newspaper in 1965.
After 1965, the victory over Nazism has gradually become the cornerstone of Soviet and Russian parotitic rituals. Even so, the parades were organized only sporadicals and it was only after 2008 that they became an annual display of military power.
The Friday’s parade will also symbolize the change of Russia in the last two decades. In 2005, many Western leaders attended, including President George W. Bush, which means the duration of the United Russian Alliance. But on Friday, the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, will be the main guest of honor.
Interruptions in Moscow
In the days before the parade, Moscow stopped. Airports closed repeatedly because either the attacks of Ukrainian drones, causing chaos. The interruptions have affected more than 60,000 passengers, according to the Association of Travel Agencies in Russia.
In the city, the main roads have been blocked to vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The cell connection has been repeatedly interrupted, wreaking havoc in the city services, including taxis and deliveries. Many companies were forced to close for the great rehearsal on Wednesday and the parade itself.
