With military splendor, Putin wants to show that he is not alone in the world

The tension was to cut, when the cameras on the Moscow Red Square strolled for ten hours of local time and the military parade, in honor of the 80th commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany, started under a clear blue sky. There was nothing noticeable of the logistics chaos, in which the Russian capital has been for days due to extreme safety measures, nothing to notice in the stands on the vast square.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, flanked by by far the most important of his foreign guests: the Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan were on the Ecrilaceous President Vladimir. As a sign of the sturdy Russian-Chinese alliance, XI visited the Russian capital for no less than four days and a Chinese honorary guard walked in the march. With the mighty XI by his side, the day before Putin could not go wrong.

After the traditional inspection round of the troops by Defense Minister Andrej Beloöesov, now in office exactly one year, Putin took the floor. The Russian president immediately came to the heart of the core and stated that Russians continue to draw ‘always’ lessons from the Second World War and ‘will never agree to a distortion of the events, with attempts to justify the executioners and blacken the true victors’. Who he meant by the « Beulen » exactly remained unclear. In the fight against Nazi Germany, millions of Ukrainian and other Soviet soldiers fought in the Red Army and, among others, Kyiv, Odessa and Sebastopol were distinguished as ‘hero cities’, who held up against the advancing German troops.

Basal historical facts

Despite his now -looking reproach to others in terms of history of history, Putin does not care much about basic historical facts. The president stated that Russia will always fight against « Nazism, Russophobia and Anti -Semitism » and emphasized that his people are united behind the « participants of the special military operation, » as the war in Ukraine is called in Russia. In addition to praise for the ‘courageous Chinese people’, he also expressed the Russian appreciation for ‘the contribution of the soldiers of the Allied armies’ in the fight.

With the presence of other leaders in the stands, Putin was able to show that his country is by no means alone in the world despite three years of war and sanctions. Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva and that of various Asian, African and Central Asian countries had managed to reach Moscow. This is despite the serious flying, which were caused earlier this week by Ukrainian drones. The Belarusian news site Zerkalo reported the cringe of the day, when in honor of the Belarusian President Loekashenko the song ‘Our father is greatwe are always with Him ‘was held.

To the indignation of the EU Also Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his Slovak colleague Fico traveled to Moscow, next to Palestinian President Machmud Abbas, the fierce pro-Russian, American actor Steven Seagal and the Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica. The North Korean President Kim Jong Un, whose army is fighting in Ukraine, let go. Just like the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who has put his relationships with Moscow on a low level, since a Russian rocket at the end of last year ‘accidentally’ an Azerbaijanan aircraft shot out of the sky. Putin apologized for that.

XI about Ukraine

It was a busy week in all respects before the Monter -looking Putin. A day earlier, he and XI had spoken to each other about the war in Ukraine, in which Xi had called on the Russian president to conclude a « just, sustainable and legally binding » peace agreement, reported Russian And Chinese media. Putin repeated his willingness to negotiate ‘without conditions’ with KYIV, something to which he has not taken any credible step so far. The three -day file, declared by Putin in honor of the celebration and not confirmed by Ukraine, was violated on all sides in the last few days.

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Photo Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

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Photo Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP

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Photo Ivan Sekretarev/Mikhail Korytov/EPA

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Photo Ivan Sekretarev/Mikhail Korytov/EPA

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Vietnamese soldiers during the Parade. Soldiers from China, Mongolia, Myanmar and Egypt also walked in the parade.

Photos Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP & Ivan Sekretarev/Mikhail Korytov/EPA

After the speeches it was time for the parade and marched a variety of national and international regiments and honorary guards along the walls of the Kremlin. Below that of China, Mongolia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Egypt. Among the Russian soldiers put in peaky uniforms were many young men and women in training as usual. The war reality in Ukraine demands a permanent deployment of experienced Russian troops. Although the 9 May parades since 2022 have become a lot less impressive in terms of military hardware, the Russian army clearly made it difficult for this 80th anniversary to recover the ‘splendor’ somewhat.

The BBC signaled New motorized artillery units, including the 2S44 Giatsint K and the 2S43 Malva and the new infantry vehicles Koerganets and Boemerang. In addition, the Iranian Shahed drones came by, which sow destruction in Ukraine, and some new reconnaissance and kamikazedrones. The rocket launcher TOS-2 ‘Tosotsjka’, who had been known to analysts, thundered the Moscow boulders for the first time this year. The ceremony ended after about two hours with an air show, which was not canceled against the general expectation. Aircraft-walled aircraft skim over the red square, a tail of red-white-blue smoke in their wake Leaving behind.

The tightly directed parade went smoothly and the dreaded Ukrainian (drone) attacks were spared Putin and his foreign guests. Yet there was also a spark of protest. The Russian organization ‘Road home’, founded by wives from 2022 under forced soldiers mobilized, had called earlier this week to quiet protestto draw attention to the fate of their men. The action group, which was united on Telegram and was declared ‘foreign agent’ last year, lays flowers at war memorials every week. « Let this be a memory: we have not forgotten it. We don’t accept this. We are waiting for our loved ones, » the group wrote in a statement. « We want peace. Not only in words, but really. »

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