Russia solemnly celebrated the Victory Day of the Soviet Union today over Nazi Germany in the Second World War, which President Vladimir Putin has turned into the basis of the almost quarter-century period in which he ruled the country, as well as the reason for his military actions against Ukraine, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Although few veterans of the conflict, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, are still alive, the victory of the Red Army remains the most important and revered symbol of the country's strength and a key element of national identity, the agency noted.
“Victory Day unites all generations,” Putin said in his speech at the Red Square parade. “We are moving forward, relying on our centuries-old traditions and feeling confident that together we will ensure a free and secure future for Russia,”, he said.
He congratulated the troops fighting in Ukraine for their courage. The West is “inciting regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious enmities and trying to prevent the global development of sovereign and independent centers,”, Putin said.
Amid tensions between Russia and the West, which are at their highest level since the Cold War, Putin recalled Russia's serious nuclear power.
„Russia will do everything to prevent a global confrontation, but will not allow anyone to threaten us. "Strategic forces are on combat alert," he said.
As servicemen marched down the pavement, followed by a parade of old and new combat equipment, the sky cleared briefly to allow military jets to fly over, displaying the white-red-blue Russian tricolor in smoke.
The Soviet Union suffered at least 27 million casualties in World War II, which practically means that almost every family lost a relative.
On their invasion in June 1941, Nazi troops captured much of the western lands of the USSR before being pushed back as far as Berlin. The US, Great Britain, France and the other Allies mark the end of the war in Europe on May 8.
The enormous suffering and casualties in cities such as Stalingrad, Kursk and Putin's hometown of Leningrad still serve as a stark symbol of the country's ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Since coming to power in 1999, Putin has made May 9 a high point of his political agenda, using the parade to demonstrate the country's military might. About 9,000 soldiers, including 1,000 who fought in Ukraine, took part in today's parade.
As part of its efforts to strengthen the Soviet legacy and trample on any attempts to question it, Russia has introduced laws that criminalize the “rehabilitation of Nazism”. These include penalties for "desecration" of monuments or contesting the Russian versions of the history of the Second World War.
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Putin invoked World War II to justify his actions, which Kiev and the West condemned as an unprovoked war of aggression. Putin pointed to "denazification" of Ukraine as Moscow's main target. He falsely labeled the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as neo-Nazis, even though Zelensky is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust.