May 9, 2023 2:30 pm EDT / Updated May 9, 2023 6:33 am EDT
By Yuliya Talmazan
troops paraded through Red Square and President Vladimir Putin glorified his war in Ukraine on Tuesday, but the scaled back celebrations showed that Russia’s cherished Victory Day demonstrated its vulnerability and military weakness rather than its power.
The country’s annual holiday, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, comes nearly 15 months after its own bloody invasion of its neighbor and just days after an alleged drone strike on the Kremlin, as well as the impending public escalation of a bitter feud between top military leaders and an anticipated one Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Although Kiev has denied involvement in the mysterious incident, events across the country have been curtailed over security fears, and mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin renewed his rhetorical attack on the Kremlin’s top leadership to ensure security The holiest day in the calendar for Putin’s Russia took place under a growing shadow.
Putin said in his address that “a real war” had been waged against Russia and again portrayed his invasion as a reaction to the West’s “exorbitant ambitions”.
The Russian President offered no new threats in his speech in Red Square. Gavriil Grigorov / AFP – Getty Images
But for all his grandiose language and efforts to gain public support, There were increasing signs of unrest in the ranks of the Russians.
Shortly after the parade, Prigozhin berated Russia’s Defense Ministry for failing to provide ammunition to its fighters after it promised last week to withdraw its forces from a key battle. He questioned the state’s ability to defend the country and the prudence of holding the celebrations amid brutal conflict.
The high-profile clash over the battle for the conquest of Bakhmut shows the lack of a symbolic victory from a costly winter push on the battlefield. Additionally, a wave of blasts in recent months have struck strategic targets deep within Russia and several prominent pro-war advocates, fueling a growing sense of unease about the safety of Russian-controlled territory – from the capital to Crimea.
It prompted authorities in many regions to reduce or cancel military parades, which usually draw large crowds.
Red Square was closed to the public for two weeks ahead of the occasion, in an apparent move to ward off security threats to the high-profile event in the heart of the capital. Moscow also banned the use of civilian drones and ride-sharing services were unavailable in the city center, with security fears adding new urgency to what the Kremlin claims is Ukraine’s assassination attempt on Putin.
The “Immortal Regiment” procession, in which hundreds of thousands of Russians march with portraits of family members who fought every day of Victory against Nazi Germany, has been moved online, with people asked to post photos of the veterans on social media, buildings and others to share cars instead.
Some activists and analysts have suggested that authorities may also have feared a strong display of the effects of the current war, particularly when families have brought back portraits of the many who have died in Ukraine.
Russians carry portraits of their deceased relatives as they take part in the March of the Immortal Regiment in Moscow on May 9 last year. Oleg Nikishin / Getty Images file
Authorities in Crimea have all but canceled Victory Day events “due to security concerns,” according to state media, after a series of apparent Ukrainian drone strikes on military bases and fuel depots on the annexed peninsula that Kiev is determined to retake.
“It is better to take precautionary measures,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
But the war is increasingly being brought before the eyes of a population that the Kremlin is trying to shield from its reality.
“This is a country that’s clearly nervous,” Michael A. Horowitz, intelligence chief at consulting firm Le Beck, told NBC News Monday. “When President Putin takes the podium, everyone will see the image of the drones in the Kremlin.”
A limited display of pageantry and pageantry took place in Moscow, where less military equipment was on display and no military aircraft flew over Red Square. For the first time in years, the parade ended in less than an hour.
Putin thanked WWII veterans for “saving mankind from Nazism” but stuck to his narrative that the war in Ukraine was necessary to prevent a new attack on Russia, saying that “again a real war was waged against our Motherland”.
Kiev and its Western allies reject these claims, seeing Putin’s war as part of his imperialist project to restore Russia’s prestige and power.
After a minute’s silence, Putin said Russia’s security and sovereignty depended on the soldiers fighting in Ukraine, some of whom took part in the parade.
“The whole country has banded together to support our heroes,” Putin added, a narrative the Kremlin and state media have been trying to push amid an unprecedented crackdown on opposition to the war.
Soldiers march in Moscow’s Red Square on Tuesday during the parade marking the 78th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP – Getty Images
Since Soviet times, Victory Day has held tremendous sentimental value for Russians, honoring the sacrifice of 27 million people in the fight against Nazi Germany. But during the decades of Putin’s rule, the Kremlin has armed that memory, using it to demonstrate its military might and send a message to its opponents.
“Victory Day is central to Putin’s narrative,” Horowitz said. “In the eyes of the Russian President, Russia is still engaged in a long struggle against ‘Nazism’, stretching from 1941 (conveniently skipping Russia’s own agreement with Nazi Germany in advance) to the present day.”
But this is also the second day of victory marked by Russia without any major victories on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Prigozhin, whose Wagner troops led the attack on Ukraine’s defenses at Bakhmut, angrily claimed Tuesday that some army soldiers “fled” the front lines and that military chiefs lied to Putin while withholding supplies.
“I wish everyone a happy Victory Day and celebrate the victory of our grandfathers,” he said in a video posted on social media. “Why we celebrate it is a big question. We just have to remember them and not Red Square.”
Russia was expected to claim the symbolic victory of capturing the eastern city in time for Victory Day, but bitter resistance and Moscow’s own military shortcomings mean the brutal struggle has only led to a sense of weakness.
With this, Ukraine underlined another symbolic step to distance itself from the Kremlin.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday he had signed a decree commemorating the May 8 defeat of Nazi Germany, in line with his Western allies. May 9, Zelenskyy said, is an opportunity to mark “Europe Day,” which European Union countries celebrate as a day of peace and unity on the continent.
The move was quickly denounced in Russia.
“By canceling Victory Day on May 9, he betrayed his ancestors once and for all,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, while Moscow-appointed Crimea leader Sergei Aksyonov called it “a vile act.” , but expected” decision of Kiev called .