Russia commemorates the 77th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. On this day, marked by strong patriotic sentiment, the Russian army displays its military capabilities in a massive parade in Moscow's Red Square under the watchful eye of President Vladimir Putin.
Victory Day is a day dedicated to extolling national pride and remembering the millions who died during the so-called 'Great Patriotic War'. It is estimated that a total of 27 million Soviet citizens lost their lives during the conflict. Among the dead, Oleg Kobtzeff, professor of international politics at the American University of Paris, stresses to France24 the suffering of Belarusian and Ukrainian civilians. "What has been erased from memory is that, among the millions of dead, most of the Belarusian and Ukrainian civilians paid a heavy price," he explains.
Lord Dannatt says "it's fairly predictable" that Putin would try to show his people that the Ukraine conflict is a "necessary defensive operation" in his speech at Russia's Victory Day.#KayBurley: https://t.co/Ev17aUxJZE
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 9, 2022
? Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/1Grw4b9Nbu
On the other hand, the role of the Central Asian countries that were part of the USSR at the time also needs to be highlighted. Kyrgyzstan, for example, sent 365,000 soldiers to the war against Nazism, according to The Diplomat; Kazakhstan mobilised 25% of its population. On the other hand, 200,000 Tajiks participated in the Great War according to the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, as did thousands of Turkmen and Uzbeks.
Looks like very small, limited Victory Day events all around Russia and areas in Ukraine under occupation. In Mariupol, Donetsk figurehead Denis Pushilin lit a torch and marched with a large St. George flag through the ruined city. pic.twitter.com/x5uvjS8bK6
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 9, 2022
However, this year, due to current events in Ukraine, Victory Day takes on a different meaning. Moscow is using this historic day, relevant to so many peoples, to justify its invasion of Ukraine. To this end, Putin has linked the current conflict to the Great War, claiming that Russian soldiers in Ukraine 'are fighting for their homeland, for their future, so that no one forgets the lessons of the Second World War'. Moscow launched its 'special operation' over Ukraine on 24 February with the aim of 'denazifying' the country and liberating the citizens of the Donbas.
This alleged connection between the fight against Nazism and the current invasion of Ukraine was previously used by Putin in a letter congratulating the peoples of the former Soviet Union. In the message to the leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Putin said that Russian soldiers, "like their ancestors, are fighting together to liberate their soil from Nazi filth", Russian news agency TASS reports. He also expressed his certainty that victory would be Russian, as in 1945.
? #Russia's May 9 "Victory Day" was celebrated at Hmeimim Air Base in #Syria.
— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) May 9, 2022
During the ceremony, the presence of military units and the low number of warplanes and helicopters drew attention.
? @savunmaisleri pic.twitter.com/PDl2d33kK4
The leaders and peoples of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, as well as the peoples of Georgia and Ukraine were also congratulated by the Russian leader, who expressed his "appreciation and respect for the warriors and workers on the home front, who crushed Nazism at the cost of countless casualties and hardships".
Putin uses the fight against Nazism in order to exalt Russian national pride, defend the invasion of Ukraine's alleged 'Nazis' and increase popular support. As Tatiana Stanovaya, director of the political consultancy R.Politik, told The Washington Post, Putin "has to legitimise his war and is trying to present it to the world and to Russians as a kind of struggle for historical justice". To this end, the Russian leader warns that Nazism is currently "raising its head again", making it "a common duty" to prevent "a restoration of the Nazism that brought so much suffering to the people of various countries". Following this rhetoric, it is recurrent in Russian propaganda to label those who oppose the invasion of Ukraine as 'Nazis' or 'fascists'.
In #Norilsk, despite the blizzard, residents came out to celebrate Victory Day.#Russia #Russian pic.twitter.com/I7UOpjFtij
— George A. Hamalian (@gahamalian) May 9, 2022
Regarding Russian military casualties, including officers, the president told a gathering in Red Square that "the death of every soldier is painful for us". According to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, some 25,500 Russian servicemen have died since the beginning of the invasion. "The state will do everything possible to take care of these families," Putin added.
The Russian leader also addressed the West in his Victory Day speech. Putin blamed NATO and Ukraine, claiming that Kiev and its Western allies were preparing "an invasion of historic Russian lands", referring to the Donbas region and the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014 after a referendum not recognised by the West.
"An absolutely unacceptable threat was being created for us, directly on our borders," Putin said. Because of this "threat", according to the Russian leader, Moscow had no choice but to take "a forced, timely and the only correct decision". "NATO countries did not want to listen to us," he added. Moreover, Putin warned that "the level of danger increases every day" in Ukraine due to "regular deliveries of modern NATO weapons".
Sergei #Shoigu congratulated soldiers on Victory Day.#Russia #Russian pic.twitter.com/4bS4Oj7a8k
— George A. Hamalian (@gahamalian) May 9, 2022
However, Putin also pointed out that everything possible must be done to avoid "the horror of a global war". Despite these positive words, on the eve of 9 May Russia returned to its war rhetoric with nuclear threats. Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia's space agency (Roscosmos), claimed that in the event of a nuclear conflict, "Russia could destroy all NATO countries in half an hour".
Many analysts have suggested that on this day Putin would declare war on Ukraine or announce a major mobilisation towards the country, but the Russian president has only alluded to Russia's historical past in its fight against the Nazis. Although, as CNN's Angela Dewan points out, "Putin had little choice".
"After all, he has very few successes in Ukraine to boast of. All he can do now is keep the Russians on his side as they suffer the economic hardships of crippling sanctions and international isolationism," Dewan explains.
"During these days, you are fighting for our people in Donbas, for the security of our country, Russia"
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 9, 2022
President Putin speaks in Moscow's Red Square as Russia marks Victory Day https://t.co/OP49gdI0V8 pic.twitter.com/olXoR7PuAh
As the celebrations unfold in Russia, Ukraine continues to come under heavy bombardment. In the morning, Odessa came under renewed attack. According to the Ukrainian authorities, at least four Onyx missiles were launched from Crimea into the Black Sea pearl, a strategic point that has been preparing for weeks for a major Russian offensive.
Contrast Putin's speech with Zelensky's today:
— max seddon (@maxseddon) May 9, 2022
"Very soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine. And someone won't have any.
We won then. We will win now. And Khreshchatyk will see the victory parade – the Victory of Ukraine!" pic.twitter.com/v1hgbLk1mo
As in Russia, Victory Day has a special significance in Ukraine this year. As President Volodimir Zelensky has said, on the day of the victory over the Nazis, Ukraine is fighting "for another victory". "The road to this victory is long, but we have no doubts about our victory. We won then, we will win now," the Ukrainian leader stressed. For this reason, the president announced that very soon there will be "two Victory Days in Ukraine".
Zelensky, in a black-and-white video recorded in Borodyanka, compared the Nazi offensive on Ukraine during World War II with the current Russian invasion. "In Mariupol, during two years of occupation, the Nazis killed 10,000 people; in two months of occupation, the Russians have killed 20,000," the Ukrainian president narrates in a recording where anti-aircraft alarms can be heard and destroyed buildings can be seen. "Darkness has returned to Ukraine", he laments. Continuing with the World War II parallels, Zelensky said that, as in the past, Ukraine "is fighting for its freedom and the freedom of its children".
In a video released by Zelensky in Borodyanka for May 8, Ukraine’s Day of Remembrance & Reconciliation, he asks, “never again? Try telling Ukraine that.” He draws comparisons between Ukraine fight against Russia to WW2 fight against fascism. Air raid sirens sounded as he posted. pic.twitter.com/J8qOzzWuOA
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 8, 2022
The Ukrainian leader also assured that his country would not allow "Russia to appropriate the victory over Nazism". "We are proud of our predecessors who, together with other peoples in an anti-Hitler coalition, defeated Nazism," he said.
Meanwhile, the war continues. Over the weekend, Kiev reported shelling of a school in Bilohorivka in the Lugansk region. 60 civilians who had hidden in the school to shelter from shelling were killed in the attack, Zelensky said.
But it is not all bad news for Kiev. In recent days, the Ukrainian army has regained ground in Kharkov, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), and has managed to evacuate all children, women and elderly people from Azovstal, the Mariupol steel mill that has been under constant siege by Russian troops for weeks.
#Canadian Prime Minister Justin #Trudeau was introduced to Patron, a dog that helps to clear mines in liberated #Ukrainian territories. pic.twitter.com/CbFMZBqhYo
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 8, 2022
The Ukrainian authorities have also received several important visitors over the weekend. Canadian President Justin Trudeau travelled to Kiev to reopen the embassy. During his visit, Trudeau also announced more military assistance for Ukraine and travelled to Irpin "to see with his own eyes all the horror that the Russian occupation has caused", as reported by the town's mayor, Oleksandr Markushin.
Several US diplomats also returned to the embassy in Kiev on 8 May, coinciding with Victory in Europe Day. Jill Biden, the US First Lady, also came as a surprise arrival from Washington. Joe Biden's wife crossed the Slovak border to Uzhhorod, where she visited a school and met with Olena Zelenska, Zelensky's wife.
In the epicenter of global history. Bono from @U2 on the metro station in Kyiv singing for Ukraine. Such a historical moments to show solidarity and pay global attention on putin’s invasion. Please repost and stand with Ukraine by pushing your govts to help us with weapons/money pic.twitter.com/j5aKrkPS60
— Serhiy Leshchenko (@Leshchenkos) May 8, 2022
Beyond the political and diplomatic sphere, there have also been some notable surprise visits. Irish singer Bono, leader of the band U2, gave a concert in the Kiev metro to mark Victory in Europe Day and as a "show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people".