As Vladimir Putin rounded off his Victory Day speech with a resounding ‘Hurrah!’ to Russia, the contrast between the celebrations of this year and last could not be starker. Putin was a president in a hurry: he spoke for just nine minutes, the parade was wrapped up in under 25 minutes.
‘A real war has once again broken out against our motherland,’ he began. Perpetuating the lies upon which he has sought to justify the invasion of Ukraine, Putin continued with the trademark bellicose ranting that we have come to expect from his speeches over the past year: ‘We have resisted international terrorism, we will defend the citizens of the Donbas, and we will guarantee our own safety’.
The cost of Russia’s war in Ukraine was impossible to hide from today’s celebrations completely
Painting Russia as the righteous defender of world peace, and not the biggest threat to it this century has seen, he said: ‘Like the vast number of people in the world, we want the future to be peaceful, free and stable.’
Last year, Putin used Victory Day to give Russia and the world a rambling history lesson written from his own skewed perspective; this year, he remained firmly in the present. There was little mention of the reason, officially, of today’s celebrations: the Second World War. Instead, it was an opportunity for Putin to, once again, air his grievances against his enemies.
His speech was thick with the language of conspiracy theory: ‘The western global elite maintain their exclusivity, persecute people and dismember society. They sow jealousy, Russophobia, aggressive nationalism. They destroy those human values that make a person a person, just so that they can continue to enforce their will, their rights, rules.’
In an indication of how the president views the huge cost his current war is taking on Russia, he accused the west of having forgotten who it was that ‘sacrificed their own lives for liberation’ nearly 80 years ago.
In recent months, it has become apparent that, despite the best efforts of the Kremlin to keep the realities of war away from the home front, the veneer of normality in Russia has been cracking. As the unease has grown, spurred on by talk of heightened security concerns and, perhaps conveniently, an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin on 3 May, the need to keep Russians onside with the war has grown more acute.
Predictably then Putin’s vilification of the west continued in today’s speech: ‘Their goal, and there is nothing new in this, is to achieve the collapse of our country, to finally destroy the system of world security and international rights, to suffocate any sovereign centres of civilization.’ Ukraine, he said, was merely a ‘hostage in a world coup’.
It was only after the minute’s silence was held that Putin turned his attention to the troops fighting in Ukraine. In contrast to last year when he announced a whole package of measures to help those injured in battle and their families, this year all he had to offer were generic platitudes of patriotism and encouragement. ‘There is no more important task than your current work in battle – you are fulfilling your duty to your homeland with honour, fighting for Russia.’
With words that will no doubt sting deeply for the families of the estimated 180,000 or more Russian casualties of the war so far, Putin continued: ‘Your families, children, friends, they wait for you, you feel their love without borders. Everyone is willing to help, they pray for you.’
These words are not without risk for the Russian president. Across Russia, marches for the ‘immortal regiment’ – held in honour of the relatives of veterans killed in the Second World War – have been called off. There are some reports that this decision came about over fears the events may have been hijacked and turned into a huge rally of those bereaved as a result of the current war in Ukraine.
Nevertheless, the cost of Russia’s war in Ukraine was impossible to hide from today’s celebrations completely. Where usually the parade of military personnel and weaponry rolling onto Red Square lasts well over half an hour, today’s affair was just over half the length. Instead of the usual, seemingly endless train of tanks, guns and military vehicles, both vintage and modern, today’s was almost exclusively made up of those from 80 years ago; just one tank was seemingly available to take part. The reason for this, although it wasn’t acknowledged, is most likely there simply weren’t the machines available: most of Russia’s military stock is otherwise engaged and, quite likely, lying mangled on the fields of Ukraine.
Putin’s speech served as a reminder of the alternative reality the Kremlin has done its best to construct in Russia over the past 15 months. And as Putin’s typically bombastic sign off showed, Victory Day in Russia is no longer about remembering the losses and victory of the second world war, it is now only a vehicle for his warmongering: ‘There is nothing stronger in the world than our love for our homeland, for Russia, for our valiant armed forces, for victory, Hurray!’
Comments