Putin uses this symbolic day to justify the invasion of Ukraine and link it to the fight against Nazism during World War II. Kiev denounces new attack on Odessa and bombing of a school

Russia celebrates Victory Day as shelling intensifies in eastern Ukraine

photo_camera REUTERS/EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA - A Soviet-era T-34 tank drives through Red Square during a parade on Victory Day, marking the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in central Moscow, Russia, 9 May 2022.

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.

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. 

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. 

El presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin, observa un desfile militar en el Día de la Victoria, que marca el 77º aniversario de la victoria sobre la Alemania nazi en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en la Plaza Roja en el centro de Moscú, Rusia, el 9 de mayo de 2022 SPUTNIK/MIKHAIL METZEL via REUTERS

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.

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". 

Miembros de una banda militar rusa marchan durante un desfile en el Día de la Victoria, que marca el 77º aniversario de la victoria sobre la Alemania nazi en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en la Plaza Roja en el centro de Moscú, Rusia, el 9 de mayo de 2022 REUTERS/EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA

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'.  

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.

El presidente ruso, Vladímir Putin, el ministro de Defensa, Serguéi Shoigu, y el jefe de las fuerzas terrestres rusas, Oleg Salyukov, caminan después de un desfile militar en el Día de la Victoria, que marca el 77º aniversario de la victoria sobre la Alemania nazi en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en la Plaza Roja en el centro de Moscú, Rusia, el 9 de mayo de 2022 REUTERS/MAXI SHEMETOV
Putin: "NATO countries did not want to listen to us"

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".

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. 

Zelensky recalls Nazi offensive, compares it to Russian invasion 

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. 

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"

El presidente de Ucrania, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, habla durante una rueda de prensa el 8 de mayo de 2022 REUTERS/VALENTYN OGIRENKO

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". 

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.

El presidente ucraniano, Volodymyr Zelensky (d), y el primer ministro de Canadá, Justin Trudeau (i), gesticulan durante una rueda de prensa conjunta en Kiev, el 8 de mayo de 2022 AFP/SERGEI SUPINSKY
Kiev regains territory in Kharkov, receives several international visitors 

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. 

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.

La primera dama, Jill Biden, saluda a Olena Zelenska, esposa del presidente ucraniano Volodymyr Zelenskyy, en el exterior de la Escuela 6, una escuela pública que ha acogido a estudiantes desplazados en Uzhhorod, Ucrania, el domingo 8 de mayo de 2022 AP/SUSAN WALSH

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. 

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".  

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