Russia celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two on Friday with a major military parade that was conducted smoothly, with no interruptions from Ukraine, despite the two nations being embroiled in a devastating conflict.
The ceremony saw President Vladimir Putin—the longest serving head of the Kremlin since Joseph Stalin—stand beside Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio, and numerous other high-profile faces.
Commonly called Victory Day, May 9 marks one of Russia's biggest secular festivals, conducted with immense pomp and splendour to project Moscow's status as a formidable global power, amid its ongoing conflict with Kyiv, which is well-past its third year.
Grand formations of troops at the Red Square in Moscow | RIA Novosti via AP
“It’s again showing that Russia is not isolated, that Russia is seen as a very legitimate victorious nation that is among victors in World War II,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, as per an Associated Press report.
The report added that the Soviet Union lost 27 million people in a phase of WWII that it calls the Great Patriotic War (1941-45), an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche. Putin capitalised on this collective historical sentiment, attempting to encourage national unity at a time when the country's conflict with Ukraine openly bleeds both sides, and the West tries to prise the two apart.
People carry portraits of relatives who fought in World War II, during the Immortal Regiment march at St. Petersburg | AP
Addressing crowds at the Red Square, Putin praised the grand scale of the celebrations, with a special mention for a section of the soldiers (1,500 of them) who had fought against Ukraine, praising “their spiritual force that always has brought us victory”.
"We highly appreciate the contribution of the soldiers of the Allied armies, the members of the resistance, the courageous people of China, and all those who fought for a peaceful future to our common struggle," he added, more generally.
More than 11,500 troops had been organised into ranks on Red Square. The time's parade also saw Russia's drones—the biggest technological innovation of the conflict—being paraded for the first time, as well as tanks and intercontinental Yars missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, a Reuters report stated.
Despite the two nations attacking each other several times this week, Russia's prestigious ceremony saw no interruptions from Ukraine, which respected the 72-hour ceasefire from May 7-9, unilaterally declared by Putin last month.
