Putin's manipulation of Victory Day

In the USSR, Victory Day was a big show, and it seems that the Putin regime is making it an even bigger spectacle. But Russians also remember the day of the great victory over Nazism with nostalgia.

Babies in uniforms in Russia, toddlers in cardboard tanks, elementary school students in cars. Even before the big military parade on Red Square, the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany is being celebrated in many Russian cities, while parents' imaginations seem to have no limits, both the imagination of parents and the kitsch of the state.

In Kemerovo, Siberia, newborns in a hospital were given military caps and wrapped in olive-colored blankets: "Join us!", the leaders wrote on social networks. These "touching" clothes are supposed to show the "connection of generations", under the motto: "Do not forget that even the smallest citizens of Russia are part of the great history."

In Voronezh, hundreds of kindergarten children also staged a "military" parade in military vehicles and cardboard airplanes, accompanied by the sound of drums. Similar events were held in Vladivostok, where over 1,000 primary school children held the "first military parade for children", where "great-grandchildren of victory" performed.

And then...

The parade was also attended by the governor of that region, Oleg Koshemyako, who took the opportunity to link Victory Day with the war that Russia is waging in Ukraine. "Today, the children of fathers who are fighting at the front are marching. We are rightly proud of the courage and bravery of our fighters and we know for sure how the enemy will be defeated, just like in the distant year 1945."

In fact, May 9 has been celebrated as Victory Day in Russia for eighty years, but it was not celebrated as it is today. Ilya Grashenkov of the Center for the Development of Regional Policy recalls that even today for many Russians, that day is “a tearful holiday,” because that victory came at a very high price. Over 25 million citizens of the Soviet Union lost their lives in World War II. But in the first years after the war, Stalin did not celebrate much.

There were still many who knew how many of their comrades had died on the battlefield, sometimes fighting with empty weapons, where "political suspects" were sent into minefields to clear the way.

Moscow's demonstration of power

But over time, the day became important for the Kremlin to show off its military might, says Alex Yusupov of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. In the Putin era, this has even intensified: "The Russian state has done everything in the last twenty years to become an inseparable part of this celebration. For Putin, the victory in World War II is an axis on which the entire Russian statehood is based, and certainly also him as president."

For political scientist Abbas Galyamov, any kind of military parade during wartime in Ukraine hardly makes sense. "But a military parade is a substitute for war. Perhaps it is necessary in peacetime, when the army is not at war, but still wants to show off."

However, the Russian military has been deeply involved in the "special military operation" for three years and it is quite clear that it has not achieved its military goals in Ukraine.

To this extent, the parade in Moscow seems "worthless." "Until 2022, everyone thought that Russia was incomparably stronger than Ukraine. Suddenly it turned out that this was not true. There is no doubt about any great military capabilities."

Grashenkov is sure that there will be young children in military uniforms in Moscow this Friday, but they will not be the most important thing for Putin. For Putin, the most important thing is that the ceremony turns out to be "as international as possible."

The international guests are certainly also out of respect for the USSR's sacrifices in the overall Allied victory over Nazi Germany. Putin will also link the 1945 victory to the current occupation of Ukraine at the ceremony, but Grashenkov doesn't think he will dwell too much on the comparison.

Propaganda cannot change history.

For Galyamov, the parade is a "universal instrument" both abroad and for Russian society. "State propaganda aims to emphasize that the glorious tradition of the heroes of the 1945 victory is continuing. But this is unlikely to impress Russian society," the political scientist believes.

The comparison between then and now is too far-fetched. The comparison between World War II and the current war in Ukraine does not correspond to the current situation. Today's war can be compared to Stalin's attack on Finland in 1939, which, it must be admitted, ended with some occupied territories.

But the Red Army was actually defeated by a small state, and only with the massive reinforcement of Russian forces was Finland forced to make concessions. The end of that war - March 13, 1940 - the Kremlin would prefer to completely erase from memory.

Ukraine is no different, Galyamov believes. "In the past three years, the Russians have not gained full control even over the territories they have occupied, let alone the occupation of Kiev."

Despite this, Galyamov is sure that the Moscow parade on May 9, 2025 will be full of victory ecstasy. And Yusupov is sure: "We will see a lot of shows. We will hear a lot of statements. We will experience a lot of special television shows."

The Kremlin will do everything it can to show that Russia is as powerful today as it was eighty years ago. /DW/ (A2 Televizion)