Thousands of troops and a formidable array of military hardware will be on show in Moscow’s Red Square and cities across Russia on Monday as the country holds its annual Victory Day to mark the end of the second world war. But this year something will be different: marchers will hold photographs of soldiers killed in the current Ukraine war alongside those who fought in the earlier conflict, as Moscow draws a direct parallel with its historic fight against fascism.International observers will be scrutinising the event for any sign that the Ukraine war has eroded Moscow’s military might and for what it might do next. For President Vladimir Putin, the parades are an opportunity to project Russian power just as its image is being undermined by recent losses.
But Victory Day is also a chance for the Kremlin to harness the emotional power of the second world war — which Russians call the Great Patriotic War — to justify its assault on its neighbour.
Some 24mn Soviet citizens died in the battle against the Nazis between 1941, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union, and 1945, and the story of that sacrifice resonates with Russians to this day. Conscious of this, the Kremlin has repeatedly justified its invasion of Ukraine by citing the need to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, depicting the war as a heroic and historic mission thrust upon the Russian people.